ENSINO E APRENDIZAGEM DE ALGORITMIA COM A FERRAMENTA PORTUGOL IDE

Abstract

Computer programming is a subject whichexperiences high rates of educational failure.Computer programming is a complex activity involvinghigh level of abstraction, which is usually taughtresorting to programming languages and developmentenvironments directed towards software productionwithin an industrial context. In an attempt to fight thisfailure rate, we have developed Portugol IDE(http:/www.dei.estt.ipt.pt/portugol/), a learningenvironment which uses an algorithm specificationlanguage named Portugol which is based on thestudents’ mother tongue, a graphic language whichreinforces the concept of sequential execution throughflow diagrams and a set of debugging tools andanimation intended to develop algorithmic reasoning.The present paper presents an introduction to PortugolIDE and some application results.