This discussion of the kind of knowledge acquired by a novice learning BASIC programming and how this knowledge may be most efficiently acquired suggests that people who do programming acquire three basic skills that are not obvious either in instruction or in traditional performance: (1) the ability to analyze each statement into a type of…

A review of the research on techniques for increasing the novice's understanding of computers and computer programming, this paper considers the potential usefulness of five tentative recommendations pertinent to the design of computer literacy curricula: (1) provide the learner with a concrete model of the computer; (2) encourage the learner to…

Some 120 undergraduate students participated in experiments to learn how novice computer programers learn to interact with the computer. Two instructional booklets were used: A "rule" booklet consisted of definitions and examples of seven modified FORTRAN statements and appropriate grammar rules; the "model" booklet was…