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 software industry needs well-trained software designers and one important aspect of software design is the ability to model software designs visually and understand what visual models represent. However, previous research indicates that software design is a difficult task to many students. This article reports empirical findings from a…

"Threshold concepts" are concepts that, among other things, transform the way a student looks at a discipline. Although the term "threshold" might suggest that the transformation occurs at a specific point in time, an "aha" moment, it seems more common (at least in computing) that a longer time period is required.…

Findings are presented from a study of undergraduate students' experiences of understanding in first-year engineering. At the end of their first year of study 86 Swedish students of electrical engineering and computer science were asked to reflect in writing on their experiences of studying and learning. Fifteen of them also took part in…

This paper reports the results of a phenomenographic study which focused on identifying and describing the conceptions of programming and related phenomena of about 120 computer science and computer engineering students learning to program. The report begins by tracing developments in the students' conceptions of programming and its parts, and…

This paper explores what students taking an international project-based course in computer systems strive to learn. Through empirical, phenomenographic work we have identified three different motives that the students strive for: academic achievement; project and team working capacity; and social competence. What a student strives to learn largely…