miscon:programming.variables.assignment-links-variables · draft · trust low · v0.1.1 · kind misapplied-analogy

Assignment links two variables

After a = b the two variables are connected, so whenever b changes later, a changes too.

Stable URI
https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/m/programming.variables.assignment-links-variables
UUID
3c50552e-a1f7-4d39-b0e5-1e1673032c7b
Domain
programming.variables
Level band
secondary, undergraduate, adult
Locale
en
About
https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/c/programming.variables.assignment (Miscon)

Evidence patterns

Pattern 0: trace a change to the source variable after an assignment between primitives

reports the destination variable as having the source's new value

Itema = 1 b = a a = 7 What is b?
Expected1
Response7

Discriminators

vs a slip. A slip gives the wrong value once. The belief is stated ('b is a now') and holds on every item where the source is later reassigned.

vs programming.variables.assignment-is-equation. Equation believers object to x = x + 1; linkers do not.

vs programming.objects.assignment-copies-object. The object case is the mirror image: there the learner expects independence and gets aliasing. Test with a primitive and an object item.

Relations

conflicts_with
Assignment copies a value into a variable at one moment (external)
resolved_by
Assignment copies a value into a variable at one moment (external)
A variable holds exactly one value at a time (external)
confusable_with
programming.variables.assignment-is-equation
programming.variables.assignment-moves-value

Provenance

Origin: llm-drafted

  1. Ma, L., Ferguson, J., Roper, M., & Wood, M. (2007). Investigating the viability of mental models held by novice programmers. In Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE '07), 499-503. doi:10.1145/1227310.1227481
    Non-viable mental models of value assignment among novices.
  2. Sorva, J. (2012). Visual Program Simulation in Introductory Programming Education (Doctoral dissertation, Aalto University). Appendix A catalogues introductory programming misconceptions from the literature. link
  3. Sirkiä, T., & Sorva, J. (2012). Exploring programming misconceptions: An analysis of student mistakes in visual program simulation exercises. In Proceedings of the 12th Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research, 19-28. doi:10.1145/2401796.2401799

Drafted from the cited literature for the Open Misconceptions seed pack; statement, examples and discriminators are original text. Awaiting maintainer review.

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Cite

miscon:programming.variables.assignment-links-variables
https://open-misconceptions.github.io/miscon-data/m/programming.variables.assignment-links-variables