While learning often emphasizes the need to understand the process leading to a final solution, the App Inventor service currently does not have the capability to record and review how users create Android applications with it. Blocks-Level Analysis (B.L.A.) provides this analytic capability by logging the actions a user takes to create apps. More specifically, it logs the changes in Blockly, the blocks scripting language App Inventor uses, recording the step-by-step process a user takes when developing an app. The logging of the creation process can help educators identify students’ misconceptions, developers identify usability concerns, and the App Inventor community as a whole by providing data-proven recommendations and personalization based on user type.

My interests are in behavioral data science, using data to understand users’ needs. I worked with the App Inventor team as a UROP during the IAP and spring of 2014. My work involved the development of the infrastructure for B.L.A. My SuperUROP will build directly onto this, as I collect and analyze user data to gain a deeper understanding on how users learn and create with App Inventor.