Early training in programming: From high school to college

Abstract

Informatics is recognized as a fundamental discipline in education at all levels. It is also an indispensable subject for scientific and technical studies. Some abilities connected to informatics learning (com-putational thinking) has being considered to provide “fundamental skills for everyone”. Programming or, more generally, the ability of solving problems by algorithmic methods is one of these skills. In Italy, many scientific degree courses offer, at the first year, at least an introductory course in programming. Digital expertize and a basic attitude to computational thinking are in general expected. The present study, has been conducted at the University of Verona, in the context of the course Programming with laboratory of Applied Mathematics curriculum. We focus on first period of lessons, when the fundamentals of programming are introduced. Most of the students come from secondary schools, in particular Liceo, a secondary school with emphasis science or humanities, and where the role of informatics is in general not central. So, an academic course in programming can be a difficult task for students. In this paper, we analyze how the “cultural” background influences the learning of programming and the performance of students.