A Review of Research on Parsons Problems

Narrative review of the Parsons-problem literature in introductory computing

Introductory computing education research.

Narrative rather than systematic; no pooled estimate and no quality-appraisal framework reported. Read at abstract depth. Included because it is the field's own senior assessment of its evidential state.

The design of Parsons problems has proliferated into many variants, but the effectiveness of Parsons problems — both as a question type and as a learning tool in computing education — remains uncertain due to a LACK OF REPLICATED RESEARCH in the field. That sentence generalises to most of this subject.

Not applicable — no estimates.

Its central verdict is precisely about the absence of replication in the underlying literature.