{"id":228849,"date":"2026-04-23T14:55:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azbuki.bg\/?p=228849"},"modified":"2026-04-23T14:55:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:55:16","slug":"enhancing-computational-thinking-and-code-comprehension-through-advanced-parson-puzzles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pedagogy.azbuki.bg\/en\/uncategorized\/enhancing-computational-thinking-and-code-comprehension-through-advanced-parson-puzzles\/","title":{"rendered":"Enhancing Computational Thinking and Code Comprehension through Advanced Parson Puzzles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Ivo Damyanov, Martin Madzhov<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>South-West University, Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53656\/math2026-2-5-ect\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53656\/math2026-2-5-ect<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Abstract.<\/strong> Parsons puzzles are simplified code-construction tasks in which learners construct programs by selecting and rearranging predefined program segments. As a wellestablished pedagogical tool in programming education, they stimulate computational thinking and a deeper understanding of code by focusing on the structure and logic of the code rather than on syntax. Although many implementations of Parsons puzzles exist today, most of them offer only standard functionality and are locked to a single language. To overcome these limitations and expand the puzzle variability, this paper presents an improved architecture for Parsons puzzles, introducing new features designed to improve applicability across courses and languages. Several key additions have been integrated into the presented Parsons puzzles application: (1) Flexible support for languages with<br \/>\ndissimilar syntax, (2) Multi-line puzzle blocks, (3) An improved version for handling nested constructions, (4) The introduction of the concept of mini-blocks for constructing more complex puzzles in realistic scenarios, (5) Support for \u201cfill-in-the-blank\u201d puzzles.<br \/>\n<em>Keywords:<\/em> Parsons puzzles, computational thinking, code comprehension, educational tools<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/azbuki.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/math_2_2026_ivo-damyanov.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Open the full text<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ivo Damyanov, Martin Madzhov South-West University, Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria) https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53656\/math2026-2-5-ect Abstract. Parsons puzzles are simplified code-construction tasks in which learners construct programs by selecting and rearranging predefined program segments. As a wellestablished pedagogical tool in programming education, they stimulate computational thinking and a deeper understanding of code by focusing on the structure and logic of the [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":124332423427287,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[]},"categories":[1],"tags":[18035,18034,18036,18033],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Enhancing Computational Thinking and Code Comprehension through Advanced Parson Puzzles - \u0410\u0437-\u0431\u0443\u043a\u0438<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/azbuki.bg\/uncategorized\/enhancing-computational-thinking-and-code-comprehension-through-advanced-parson-puzzles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Enhancing Computational Thinking and Code Comprehension through Advanced Parson Puzzles - \u0410\u0437-\u0431\u0443\u043a\u0438\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ivo Damyanov, Martin Madzhov South-West University, Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria) https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53656\/math2026-2-5-ect Abstract. Parsons puzzles are simplified code-construction tasks in which learners construct programs by selecting and rearranging predefined program segments. As a wellestablished pedagogical tool in programming education, they stimulate computational thinking and a deeper understanding of code by focusing on the structure and logic of the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/azbuki.bg\/uncategorized\/enhancing-computational-thinking-and-code-comprehension-through-advanced-parson-puzzles\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0410\u0437-\u0431\u0443\u043a\u0438\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Azbuki55\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-23T11:55:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u201e\u0410\u0437-\u0431\u0443\u043a\u0438\u201c\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\u201e\u0410\u0437-\u0431\u0443\u043a\u0438\u201c\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azbuki.bg\/uncategorized\/enhancing-computational-thinking-and-code-comprehension-through-advanced-parson-puzzles\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azbuki.bg\/uncategorized\/enhancing-computational-thinking-and-code-comprehension-through-advanced-parson-puzzles\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\u201e\u0410\u0437-\u0431\u0443\u043a\u0438\u201c\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vocedu.azbuki.bg\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/de220d282eaa494f914ce0fd838645dd\"},\"headline\":\"Enhancing Computational Thinking and Code Comprehension through Advanced Parson Puzzles\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-23T11:55:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-23T11:55:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azbuki.bg\/uncategorized\/enhancing-computational-thinking-and-code-comprehension-through-advanced-parson-puzzles\/\"},\"wordCount\":187,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/vocedu.azbuki.bg\/en\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"code comprehension\",\"computational thinking\",\"educational tools\",\"Parsons puzzles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/azbuki.bg\/uncategorized\/enhancing-computational-thinking-and-code-comprehension-through-advanced-parson-puzzles\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/azbuki.bg\/uncategorized\/enhancing-computational-thinking-and-code-comprehension-through-advanced-parson-puzzles\/\",\"name\":\"Enhancing Computational Thinking and Code Comprehension through Advanced Parson Puzzles - 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Parsons puzzles are simplified code-construction tasks in which learners construct programs by selecting and rearranging predefined program segments. 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