A Survey of Introductory Programming Courses in Ireland

Abstract

Between January and April of 2018, a comprehensive survey of introductory programming courses was undertaken across all sectors of Irish third-level institutions (universities, institutes of technology, and private colleges). The survey instrument was based on - and nearly identical to - recent surveys in the UK and Australasia. In total we report on 39 introductory programming courses at 25 third-level institutions. This includes 6 of 7 universities and 13 of 14 institutes of technology, representing 90% of all publicly funded institutions. We also report on 4 private colleges representing 80% of colleges in the Irish Higher Education Colleges Association that offer computing degrees. In addition to general course structure and composition, we explore programming language use, the reasons for using them, and their impact on teaching and learning. We also gain first-hand insight from instructors through an analysis of their own course aims, and explore their viewpoints on teaching introductory programming. The results of this survey provide a unique insight into the CS1 courses of a single country that is currently introducing computer science at the K-12 level.