How do students learn to program in a connected world?

Abstract

Computer scientists have been interested in the recurrent problem of teaching introductory programming for years. New undergraduates come from varied backgrounds with different prior experiences, so it is a complex task to ensure an equal learning outcome for each student. A large body of relevant literature exists. However, this mainly dates from an era when practical based learning activities were only supported by paper resources. It may therefore be interesting and perhaps helpful to teachers to gather insights into the contemporary practices of undergraduates' accessing information sources when learning to program. This poster presents a study exploring the learning practices of students enrolled on introductory programming courses. A mixed methods approach is designed to triangulate the gathered quantitative and qualitative data in an effort to expose practices, beliefs and attitudes to learning from a perspective of identifying what the student does. The poster will present interim findings and discuss the challenges and potential advantages of working within a mixed methods research framework. © 2013 Authors.