Relationship of early programming language to novice generated design

Abstract

What measurable effect do the language and paradigm used in early programming classes have on novice programmers' ability to do design? This work investigates the question by using data collected from 136 "first competency" students as part of a multi-national, multi-institutional study of students' approach to and attitudes toward design. Analysis of a number of surface characteristics of their designs found strikingly few differences between designs produced by students at schools that teach using objects-early, imperative-early, and functional-early paradigms. A similar lack of difference was found between students at C++-first and Java-first schools. While statistically significant differences are found for three characteristic comparisons across language and paradigm, these results seem to have little meaning for teaching given the complexity of the null hypotheses tested in those three cases. In particular, for the following design characteristics no statistically significant differences across language or paradigm of early instruction were found: attempt to address requirements, type of design produced, number of parts in design, recognition of ambiguity in design, and connectedness of design. Copyright 2006 ACM.