Previous research shows that many students find it difficult to learn computer programming. To learn computer programming includes both gaining theoretical understanding and learning to develop programmes in practice. To this end, teachers commonly design programming exercises for the students in the computer laboratory. To be able to improve the…

Computer programming education has practice-oriented as well as theory-oriented learning goals. Here, lab work plays an important role in students' learning. It is however widely reported that many students face great difficulties in learning theory as well as practice. This paper investigates the important but problematic relation between the…

The present work has its focus on university-level engineering education students that do not intend to major in computer science but still have to take a mandatory programming course. Phenomenography and variation theory are applied to empirical data from a study of students' conceptions of computer programming. A phenomenographic outcome space…