Interactive Animation and Affective Teaching and Learning in Programming Courses

Abstract

Programming is an essential subject in computer science and information systems developments, and its demand in the computer industry is even higher today. To the dismay of the industry, there is a very high dropout rate of programming students as they find coding difficult. The literature presents many ways to combat attrition rate in programming courses, which include the way programming is taught (teaching) and received (learning) by students. This paper will focus on teaching and learning aspects of programming courses. In particular, we discuss an interactive tool that can be used to teach and learn to program. This tool is developed using Adobe Flash CS5, specifically the Adobe Action Script 3.0, Adobe AIR and iPhone OS. The tutorials are animated and designed using natural language.