Translation from Problem to Code in Seven Steps

California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) uses an outcomes-based delivery philosophy and focuses on measurable student learning. Because of the required outcome it was determined that the students needed more scaffolding or metacognitive support than is typically afforded in the introductory programming courses. The students were simply not capable of making the jump from simple programming concepts to being able to deliver a satisfactory completed portfolio piece. This paper reports on a study that investigated use of pair programming as a delivery methodology for an introductory Java programming course

It is well-established that a sense of belonging is important for students' academic success. This is especially true for international students in introductory programming courses. In higher education, students' sense of belonging is closely associated with their interest in the subject and related career. This study explores the use of a narrative-based gamification approach to enhance students' sense of belonging in introductory programming courses. The gamified design was piloted with 32 Chinese students enrolled in a big data analytic course using Python at a British university. Results showed that the narrative-based gamified approach greatly improved students' sense of belonging in terms of peer relationships and related-ness to the subject, and increased their learning motivation, career interest, class engagement, and learning retention.

Lecture recordings are a common and useful resource for students due to the flexibility they provide. Recent rapid shifts to online modes of teaching have made recorded lectures especially valuable as many students rely on them to access course content. As a result, there is a pressing need to understand how students consume lecture content via recordings and what patterns of access are effective. In this research, we investigate the common lecture recording viewing behaviors of students and the relationship between lecture recording viewing and academic performance in a first-year programming course. Several trends were observed. A significant positive correlation between lecture recording views and final grades was identified. Students who repeated the course after failing it once, achieved, on average, higher grades if they had more lecture recording views in their second attempt. A small number of students engaged in habitual “binge-watching” behavior and those students had lower grades, on average, than students who watched more regularly. This was a particular problem for repeating students, attempting the course a second time, who failed the course at twice the rate if they engaged in habitual binge-watching. Although lecture recordings appear to be a helpful learning resource for students in introductory programming courses, this work suggests that binge-watching is an unproductive study strategy that should be discouraged.

Learning programming is a difficult task since programming requires new concepts in thinking and creative skills in problem solving. A number of learning tools and environments have been built to assist both teachers and students in introductory programming courses. In this study, we have established a classification for these tools. Tools are divided into four categories: A) integrated development interface; B) visualization; C) virtual learning environments; and D) systems for submitting, managing, and testing of exercises. The classification is based on a review of existing tools, both commercial and freely available. Guidelines for the selection of a suitable tool are discussed.

Computer programming is considered as a difficult area of study for novices. One of the reasons is the main focus of the curriculum presented in an introductory programming (IP) course which emphasizes more on the programming knowledge (syntax and semantic) of the programming language. This study introduced a new teaching curriculum in the IP course which focuses on different skills required by the novices. We compared the IP course materials based on the traditional and new approaches against five categories. The result shows that the new approach encourages both the programming knowledge and problem solving strategies, and promotes deep learning. Furthermore, it discourages programming shortcut (Problem statement → Code), and support three-step approach (Problem statement → Solution Plans → Code) in solving a problem statement. The new approach also promotes algorithmic thinking in the IP course by paying equal attention on the problem solving strategies.

Problem solving skills are considered an integral part of grasping the precise concepts of the programming domain for novices in introductory programming (IP) courses. But these skills are mostly covered only in early lectures of such courses or are included in just a few early chapters of some relevant textbooks. Consequently, high failure and dropout rates are often reported in IP courses. In this study, we developed and introduced an application, called PROBSOL, which is designed to focus on, and enhance, novice programmers’ problem solving skills. Two versions of the application were developed, a web-based version and a mobile app. The applications were based on pseudo-code techniques. A survey was implemented to collect students’ feedback and semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect instructors’ opinion about the applications. Moreover, final exam grades over two semesters were compared to determine the impact of including the PROBSOL applications in the course. The results show that both students and instructors appreciated the applications and that their use supports students’ cognitive gains and engagement. Moreover, they promote students’ affective engagement in the IP course. The use of the applications improves novices’ programming understanding, logic capabilities and problem solving skills. However, students preferred the mobile version rather than the web-based version during the course. The comparison of students’ grades showed that the students’ achievements were improved and attrition rates were reduced after introducing the PROBSOL applications in the course.

High failure and drop-out rates from introductory programming courses continue to be of significant concern to computer science disciplines despite extensive research attempting to address the issue. In this study, we include the three entities of the didactic triangle, instructors, students and curriculum, to explore the learning difficulties that students encounter when studying introductory programming. We first explore students' perceptions of the barriers and affordances to learning programming. A survey is conducted with introductory programming students to get their feedback on the topics and associated learning resources in the introductory programming course. The instructors' perceptions are included by analyzing current teaching materials and assessment tools used in the course. As a result, an ADRI based approach is proposed to address the problems identified in the teaching and learning processes of an introductory programming course.

In our research, we have introduced and implemented a new software development method, testing before coding (TBC), to bring in the benefits of using software development lifecycle in computer programming and improved students program quality. TBC follows the basic concept of agile method (such as test-driven development, TDD) and makes students a "cultural shift" in developing their computer programs i.e., students must test their own codes and consider testing as an indispensable part of program development. Our method has been exercised in the introductory computer programming courses and has improved the students' programs quality at least 24%.

The teaching and learning of programming are often considered a difficult topic for both teachers and students, due to its complexity and abstract nature. The traditional teaching approaches are unable to contribute substantially to the development of the necessary cognitive models by the students, producing high rates of failure and dropout in introductory programming courses. In the last 30 years, the scientific community has not stopped looking for new pedagogical approaches and teaching techniques in introductory computer programming courses. Various studies have shown that pair programming under appropriate conditions may create an environment conducive to learning, leading to an increase student interest in programming. In this paper, the author presents the results of a pilot teaching intervention. The sample was collected among first-grade students of a high school in Greece. The results showed that the pair programming is more efficient than the solo programming, both on facilitating and supporting students' learning and understanding of basic programming concepts, as well as on improving students' attitudes toward programming.

Progressive programming assignments were used in an introductory Java programming course where every assignment built on the previous one. The major goal was to help students learn difficult, abstract concepts. This technique allows students to concentrate on the current topic while building on their previous work. This also provides an incentive for students to keep up with their work. Students often feel that they can skip the current topic and pick up after it is over, but it is difficult to do this in a programming course because every new concept builds on the previous ones. This approach also has built-in scalability, which is difficult to achieve in introductory programming courses due to time constraints and the students limited knowledge. These assignments were given in a CS2-type course where the topics predominantly deal with abstract concepts. This paper discusses the assignments, goals, faculty observations, student comments, and results.

Program Visualization (PV) is an educational tool frequently used to assist users for understanding a program flow. However, despite its clear benefits, PV cannot be incorporated easily on Introductory Programming course. Several key properties such as student characteristics and behavior should be considered beforehand. This paper is intended to provide an empirical review about the impact of PV toward students of Introductory Programming course. For our case study, PythonTutor is selected as a sample of PVs due to its accessibility. It can be accessed anywhere and anytime through a web browser. Three conclusions are obtained based on our evaluation on data collected from a survey. Firstly, PV is quite effective to assist students for conducting several programming sub-tasks. Secondly, PV, at some extent, may help students to learn advanced topics on Introductory Programming course. Finally, despite the fact that several features should be incorporated to enhance understanding of students, PV is beneficial for learning Introductory Programming course, especially when it is frequently used.

This paper describes an action research for developing better algorithmic thinking in introductory programming courses. Enhancing algorithmic thinking and improving problem solving skills are the main objectives of such courses and are considered a significant success factor in future courses as well as future work achievements. Furthermore, failing to develop these skills, usually leads to failures in these introductory courses as well as the courses that follow. As part of this action research, that was performed during four semesters several course structures and learning tactics were examined. The evaluation methodology was simple and based only on the percentage of failing students. The success achieved was attributed to two main factors (1) using a visualization environment (Micro-world) for the whole duration of the course, which helped in understanding the more complex and abstract issues, and (2) using individual assignments that enforced better learning habits and development of individual algorithmic thinking. The paper describes the various attempts, as well as the final structure, that reduced the failing students by over 77%. This paper describes an action research for developing better algorithmic thinking in introductory programming courses. Enhancing algorithmic thinking and improving problem solving skills are the main objectives of such courses and are considered a significant success factor in future courses as well as future work achievements. Furthermore, failing to develop these skills, usually leads to failures in these introductory courses as well as the courses that follow. As part of this action research, that was performed during four semesters several course structures and learning tactics were examined. The evaluation methodology was simple and based only on the percentage of failing students. The success achieved was attributed to two main factors (1) using a visualization environment (Micro-world) for the whole duration of the course, which helped in understanding the more complex and abstract issues, and (2) using individual assignments that enforced better learning habits and development of individual algorithmic thinking. The paper describes the various attempts, as well as the final structure, that reduced the failing students by over 77%.

Learning to program requires the development of multiple skills including critical thinking, problem-solving, as well as learning the syntax and semantics of the programming language. For novices, to acquire all these skills is considered a challenging and difficult task. They have to focus on both problem-solving strategies and the syntax and semantics of the programming language to acquire these skills. In this study, this article compares the current teaching and learning approach of an introductory programming (IP) course with the six categories of Bloom's taxonomy. The assurance of learning (AOL) process was incorporated in the IP course to assess students' learning outcomes on the basis of achiever (high, medium and low) and performance (very good, good enough and not good enough) categories. The results showed that the current teaching and learning approach of the IP course addressed all the six categories of Bloom's taxonomy. Most of the students (63%) fall under the medium achiever category. Moreover, 50% students learning outcomes come under ‘not good enough' performance category.

The introductory programming course (IPC) holds a special significance in computing disciplines as this course serves as a prerequisite for studying the higher level courses. Students generally face difficulties during their initial stages of learning how to program. Continuous efforts are being made to examine this course for identifying potential improvements. This article presents the review of the state-of-the-art research exploring various components of IPC by examining sixty-six articles published between 2014 and 2020 in well-reputed research venues. The results reveal that several useful methods have been proposed to support teaching and learning in IPC. Moreover, the research in IPC presented useful ways to conduct assessments, and also demonstrated different techniques to examine improvements in the IPC contents. In addition, a variety of tools are evaluated to support the related course processes. Apart from the aforementioned facets, this research explores other interesting dimensions of IPC, such as collaborative learning, cognitive assessments, and performance predictions. In addition to reviewing the recent advancements in IPC, this study proposes a new taxonomy of IPC research dimensions. Furthermore, based on the successful practices that are listed in the literature, some useful guidelines and advices for instructors have also been reported in this article. Lastly, this review presents some pertinent open research issues to highlight the future dimensions for IPC researchers.

The college students who have relatively weak academic background feel more difficult in learning programming language grammars and programming skills in introductory course. At the end of semester, most of students had the negative attitude to programming and only a few students could write the programs for the given problems because they spent most of time to learn grammars instead of learning problem solving skills and logics. In this study, we propose to use Scratch in introductory programming course to help students to understand grammars and problem solving skills. It's necessary to educate first-time programmers how to solve the problems before they learn grammars of the programming language in their first programming language course. This paper shows that Scratch allows students not only to learn problem solving skills in programming but also to motivate students themselves in the class.