P-Inti: Interactive Visual Representation of Programming Concepts for Learning and Instruction

Learning to program poses significant challenges, not only to learners but also teaching challenges to instructors. Several previous approaches to facilitate learning to program or analyze algorithms have employed visuals and visualizations, but they are limited in interactivity and in the ability of instructors and learners to customize the visuals to their learning goals. In this work, we present the design and implementation of P-Inti, an interactive constructive learning aid designed to allow learners to use a visual canvas to explore aspects of the state, control flow and execution of a program or algorithm. Instructors can also use the tool to generate interactive visual explanations for code and support quick switching between different algorithms.