Michael E. Caspersen

Failure rates in introductory programming

It is a common conception that CS1 is a very difficult course and that failure rates are high. However, until now there has only been anecdotal evidence for this claim. This article reports on a survey among institutions around the world regarding failure rates in introductory programming courses. The article describes the design of the survey and the results. The number of institutions answering the call for data was unfortunately rather low, so it is difficult to make firm conclusions. It is our hope that this article can be the starting point for a systematic collection of data in order to find solid proof of the actual failure and pass rates of CS1.

Abstraction ability as an indicator of success for learning object-oriented programming?

Computer science educators generally agree that abstract thinking is a crucial component for learning computer science in general and programming in particular. We report on a study to confirm the hypothesis that general abstraction ability has a positive impact on programming ability. Abstraction ability is operationalized as stages of cognitive development (for which validated tests exist). Programming ability is operationalized as grade in the final assessment of a model-based objects-first CS1. The validity of the operationalizations is discussed. Surprisingly, our study shows that there is no correlation between stage of cognitive development (abstraction ability) and final grade in CS1 (programming ability). Possible explanations are identified.

Revealing the programming process

One of the most important goals of an introductory programming course is that the students learn a systematic approach to the development of computer programs. Revealing the programming process is an important part of this; however, textbooks do not address the issue -- probably because the textbook medium is static and therefore ill-suited to expose the process of programming. We have found that process recordings in the form of captured narrated programming sessions are a simple, cheap, and efficient way of providing the revelation.We identify seven different elements of the programming process for which process recordings are a valuable communication media in order to enhance the learning process. Student feedback indicates both high learning outcome and superior learning potential compared to traditional classroom teaching.

An investigation of potential success factors for an introductory model-driven programming course

In order to improve the course design of a CS1 model-driven programming course we study potential indicators of success for such a course. We explain our specific interpretation of objects-first. Of eight potential indicators of success, we have found only two to be significant at a 95% confidence interval: math grade from high school and course work. The two significant indicators explain 24.2% of the variation of the exam grade. The result concerning math grade contradicts earlier findings. We discuss four aspects of our research: the explanation power of the potential success indicators, the impact of our findings on teaching, limits of what to conclude from the available data, and the variety of the notion objects-first. Because of the variety of interpretations of objects-first, the present research is necessary as a supplement to earlier research in order to make generalizable results on the success factors for objects-first programming.

Mental models and programming aptitude

Predicting the success of students participating in introductory programming courses has been an active research area for more than 25 years. Until recently, no variables or tests have had any significant predictive power. However, Dehnadi and Bornat claim to have found a simple test for programming aptitude to cleanly separate programming sheep from non-programming goats. We briefly present their theory and test instrument.n We have repeated their test in our local context in order to verify and perhaps generalise their findings, but we could not show that the test predicts students success in our introductory program-ming course.n Based on this failure of the test instrument, we discuss various explanations for our differing results and suggest a research method from which it may be possible to generalise local results in this area. Furthermore, we discuss and criticize Dehnadi and Bornats programming aptitude test and devise alternative test instruments.

Programming in context: a model-first approach to CS1

The recommendations of the Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula 2001 encompass suggestions for an object-first introductory programming course. We have identified conceptual modeling as a lacking perspective in the suggestions for CS1. Conceptual modeling is the defining characteristic of object-orientation and provides a unifying perspective and a pedagogical approach focusing upon the modelling aspects of object-orientation. Reinforcing conceptual modelling as a basis for CS1 provides an appealing course structure based on core elements from a conceptual framework for object-orientation as well as a systematic approach to programming; both of these are a big help to newcomers. The approach has a very positive impact on the number of students passing the course.

Abstraction ability as an indicator of success for learning computing science

Computing scientists generally agree that abstract thinking is a crucial component for practicing computer science.n We report on a three-year longitudinal study to confirm the hypothesis that general abstraction ability has a positive impact on performance in computing science.n Abstraction ability is operationalized as stages of cognitive development for which validated tests exist. Performance in computing science is operationalized as grade in the final assessment of ten courses of a bachelors degree programme in computing science. The validity of the operationalizations is discussed.n We have investigated the positive impact overall, for two groupings of courses (a content-based grouping and a grouping based on SOLO levels of the courses intended learning outcome), and for each individual course.n Surprisingly, our study shows that there is hardly any correlation between stage of cognitive development (abstraction ability) and final grades in standard CS courses, neither for the various group-ings, nor for the individual courses. Possible explanations are discussed.

Reflections on the Teaching of Programming

This state-of-the-art survey, reflecting on the teaching of programming, has been written by a group of primarily Scandinavian researchers and educators with special interest and experience in the subject of programming. The 14 chapters - contributed by 24 authors - present practical experience gathered in the process of teaching programming and associated with computing education research work. Special emphasis is placed on practical advice and concrete suggestions. The authors are all members of the Scandinavian Pedagogy of Programming Network (SPoP), and bring together a diverse body of experiences from the Nordic countries. The 14 chapters of the book have been carefully written and edited to present 4 coherent units on issues in introductory programming courses, object-oriented programming, teaching software engineering issues, and assessment. Each of these individual parts has its own detailed introduction. The topics addressed span a wide range of problems and solutions associated with the teaching of programming such as introductory programming courses, exposition of the programming process, apprentice-based learning, functional programming first, problem-based learning, the use of on-line tutorials, object-oriented programming and Java, the BlueJ environment to introduce programming, model-driven programming as opposed to the prevailing language-driven approach, teaching software engineering, testing, extreme programming, frameworks, feedback and assessment, active learning, technology-based individual feedback, and mini project programming exams.

Assessing Process and Product - A Practical Lab Exam for an Introductory Programming Course

The final assessment of a course must reflect its goals, and contents. An important goal of our introductory programming course is that the students learn a systematic approach for the development of computer programs. Having the programming process as learning objective naturally raises the question how to include this in assessments. Traditional assessments (e.g. oral, written, or multiple choice) are unsuitable to test the programming process. We describe and evaluate a practical lab examination that assesses the students programming process as well as the developed programs. The evaluation is performed in two ways: By analyzing the results of two lab examinations (with more than 500 students) and by semi-structured individual interviews with representatives of the involved persons (students, TAs, lecturer, and examiner). The result of the evaluation is encouraging and indicates the value of alignment and strong conformity between goal, content and assessment of the introductory programming course.

Teaching programming to liberal arts students: a narrative media approach

In this paper we present a new learning environment to be used in an introductory programming course for students that are non-majors in computer science, more precisely for multimedia students with a liberal arts background.Media-oriented programming adds new requirements to the craft of programming (e.g. aesthetic and communicative).We argue that multimedia students with a liberal arts background need programming competences because programmability is the defining characteristic of the computer medium. We compare programming with the creation of traditional media products and identify two important differences which give rise to extra competences needed by multimedia designers as opposed to traditional media product designers. We analyze the development process of multimedia products in order to incorporate this in the learning process, and based on this we present our vision for a new learning environment for an introductory programming course for multimedia students.We have designed a learning environment called Lingoland with the new skills of media programming in mind that hopefully can help alleviate the problems we have experienced in teaching programming to liberal arts students.