Isabel Huet

New challenges in teaching introductory programming courses: a case study

The Department of Educational Sciences and the Department of Electronic & Telecommunications at the University of Aveiro (Portugal) have been working together with the Department of Computer & Information Sciences at the University of Strathclyde (UK), with the aim of improving the teaching quality of introductory programming courses and, indirectly, the academic success of their students. Over the past two years, data has been collected through interviews and questionnaires, to better understand the organization of the different courses and approaches to teaching. The present paper discusses how the organization of introductory programming courses in each institution reflects the teaching philosophy of the members of staff and also how course organization and teaching strategy relate to the students attitudes to learning and their motivation for course involvement.

Turning Engineers into Reflective University Teachers

Increasing attention to quality and innovation in higher education (HE) is enhancing the pedagogic knowledge of faculty members and thereby encouraging the academic success of their students. This aim requires, from the institution and teachers, a greater degree of involvement than was previously the case. This is certainly borne out by experience in Portuguese universities. The growing concern of engineers with issues of pedagogy and academic success marks a sea change in the traditional conceptions of teaching and learning in higher education. There are, of course, indications that many academics are resistant to change. Our research indicates a tradition among Portuguese and Scottish academics to incline their effort toward research with a resultant decline in interest and effort on teaching. The present paper presents a meta-analysis of research conducted at the University of Aveiro (Portugal) and the University of Strathclyde (United Kingdom) between 2000 and 2004 involving academics who taught first-year introductory programming courses. The purpose of our study was to promote reflection and research on teaching-based issues as a strategy toward improved student learning. The findings of the study raised a number of salient issues for discussion and consideration. In this paper, we present some of these issues, aiming to explore the impact that the findings may have on teachers attitudes towards teaching and students learning in introductory programming courses