%0 Conference Paper %1 Robillard_2020 %A Robillard, Martin P. %A Treude, Christoph %B Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education %D 2020 %I ACM %K forum helper wikipedia %P 72-78 %R 10.1145/3328778.3366832 %T Understanding Wikipedia as a Resource for Opportunistic Learning of Computing Concepts %U https://doi.org/10.1145%2F3328778.3366832 %X Posts on on-line forums where programmers look for information often include links to Wikipedia when it can be assumed the reader will not be familiar with the linked terms. A Wikipedia article will thus often be the first exposure to a new computing concept for a novice programmer. We conducted an exploratory study with 18 novice programmers by asking them to read a Wikipedia article on a common computing concept that was new to them, while using the think-aloud protocol. We performed a qualitative analysis of the session transcripts to better understand the experience of the novice programmer learning a new computing concept using Wikipedia. We elicited five themes that capture this experience: Concept Confusion, Need for Examples, New Terminology, Trivia Clutter, and Unfamiliar Notation. We conclude that Wikipedia is not well suited as a resource for the opportunistic learning of new computing concepts, and we recommend adapting information sharing practices in on-line programmer communities to better account for the learning needs of the users.

@inproceedings{Robillard_2020, abstract = {Posts on on-line forums where programmers look for information often include links to Wikipedia when it can be assumed the reader will not be familiar with the linked terms. A Wikipedia article will thus often be the first exposure to a new computing concept for a novice programmer. We conducted an exploratory study with 18 novice programmers by asking them to read a Wikipedia article on a common computing concept that was new to them, while using the think-aloud protocol. We performed a qualitative analysis of the session transcripts to better understand the experience of the novice programmer learning a new computing concept using Wikipedia. We elicited five themes that capture this experience: Concept Confusion, Need for Examples, New Terminology, Trivia Clutter, and Unfamiliar Notation. We conclude that Wikipedia is not well suited as a resource for the opportunistic learning of new computing concepts, and we recommend adapting information sharing practices in on-line programmer communities to better account for the learning needs of the users. }, added-at = {2020-11-22T22:48:33.000+0100}, author = {Robillard, Martin P. and Treude, Christoph}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/24a52702d5e951a06ae31bee7e6f24ae2/brusilovsky}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 51st {ACM} Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education}, description = {Understanding Wikipedia as a Resource for Opportunistic Learning of Computing Concepts | Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education}, doi = {10.1145/3328778.3366832}, interhash = {90e5b91364f2d744e24c16153561bcef}, intrahash = {4a52702d5e951a06ae31bee7e6f24ae2}, keywords = {forum helper wikipedia}, month = feb, pages = {72-78}, publisher = {{ACM}}, timestamp = {2020-11-22T22:48:33.000+0100}, title = {Understanding Wikipedia as a Resource for Opportunistic Learning of Computing Concepts}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1145%2F3328778.3366832}, year = 2020 }