DALALearn: A platform for teaching programming and conducting educational research

Abstract

In recent years, digital tools have emerged to facilitate interactive and adaptive learning such as Duolingo, demonstrating that it is possible to promote autonomous practice and track progress. However, in programming education, there is still a need for specific tools that not only support learning but also enable structured and wide-reaching educational research. Conducting rigorous educational experiments with a large number of participants remains a challenge. Educational research often requires evaluations in real contexts, where the conditions do not interfere with the usual course development. Additionally, many teachers lack platforms that allow them to control variables and track student behavior in detail. In this context, DALALearn was created, a platform designed to support and facilitate programming teaching and practice through an engaging mobile app, while providing teachers and researchers with an environment to conduct educational experiments with detailed usage and performance metrics. The  roposal aims to complement existing courses by offering short lessons, adaptive practice, and assessments in a modern tool focused on empirical data collection.