Michelle Le Pham
Current Organizations / Institutes
The organizations/institutes from the scholar's latest article
Research Subjects
Michelle Le Pham has a total of 4 co-authors. Here are the top co-authors by number of shared publications:
- Rebecca Schreib
Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
3 shared publications - Anna Nguyen
Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA
1 shared publication - Joshua Stallings
Department of Computer Science, Rice University, Houston, USA
1 shared publication - Praise O. Mayor
Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
1 shared publication
Latest Publications
- Open Access
- 9 July 2026
- Published by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
- p. 2-8
Quantifying Student Mistakes and Misconceptions of the Run-Time Memory Layout of Java Programs
- 9 July 2026
- Published by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
- p. 2-8
Open AccessQuantifying Student Mistakes and Misconceptions of the Run-Time Memory Layout of Java Programs
- Open Access
- 13 June 2025
- Published by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
- p. 667-673
An Interactive Visualization Tool for Teaching Garbage Collection
- 13 June 2025
- Published by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
- p. 667-673
Open AccessAn Interactive Visualization Tool for Teaching Garbage Collection
- Open Access
- 3 July 2024
- Published by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
- p. 541-547
MemStep: An Interactive Tool for Constructing and Visualizing the Run-Time Memory Layout of Java Programs
Novice programmers often struggle to build accurate mental models of computation, which hinders their ability to understand, debug, and optimize programs. This paper presents MemStep, an interactive visualization tool designed to help students develop robust and accurate mental models of computation. MemStep enables students to "step'' through the execution of Java programs and visualize the run-time layout of memory. It actively involves students in the process of constructing these visualizations by requiring that they identify each memory operation --- such as allocating an object on the heap, allocating a new stack frame, or adding a variable to the stack --- that occurs during the execution of each line of code. When a student correctly completes an operation, the stack or heap is visually updated to reflect the operation that was performed. If a student makes a mistake, they receive targeted feedback and can retry until they reach the correct answer. MemStep was piloted in a sophomore-level course on program design and evaluated using a controlled experiment, where it was found to be at least as effective and more engaging as compared to traditional learning activities.
- 3 July 2024
- Published by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
- p. 541-547
Open AccessMemStep: An Interactive Tool for Constructing and Visualizing the Run-Time Memory Layout of Java Programs
Novice programmers often struggle to build accurate mental models of computation, which hinders their ability to understand, debug, and optimize programs. This paper presents MemStep, an interactive visualization tool designed to help students develop robust and accurate mental models of computation. MemStep enables students to "step'' through the execution of Java programs and visualize the run-time layout of memory. It actively involves students in the process of constructing these visualizations by requiring that they identify each memory operation --- such as allocating an object on the heap, allocating a new stack frame, or adding a variable to the stack --- that occurs during the execution of each line of code. When a student correctly completes an operation, the stack or heap is visually updated to reflect the operation that was performed. If a student makes a mistake, they receive targeted feedback and can retry until they reach the correct answer. MemStep was piloted in a sophomore-level course on program design and evaluated using a controlled experiment, where it was found to be at least as effective and more engaging as compared to traditional learning activities.