A tool for programming learning with pedagogical patterns

Programming Patterns help create a shared language for communicating insight and experience about programming problems and their solutions. Inspired by this idea, we developed the PROPAT e-learning tool: an Eclipse IDE that allows students of a first Computer Science course to learn how to program using pedagogical patterns, i.e., a set of programming patterns recommended by Computer Science educators. PROPAT has been implemented as an Eclipse plugin with two main perspectives: the Teacher Perspective and the Student Perspective. To identify some of the students' mistakes, the PROPAT plug-in also includes a program diagnosis system that uses Model Based Diagnosis techniques from the Artificial Inteligence.