Programming education has recently received increased attention due to growing demand for programming and information technology skills. However, a lack of teaching materials and human resources presents a major challenge to meeting this demand. One way to compensate for a shortage of trained teachers is to use machine learning techniques to…

Compared to other subjects, the typical introductory programming (CS1) course has higher than usual rates of both failing and high grades, creating a characteristic bimodal grade distribution. In this article, I explore two possible explanations. The conventional explanation has been that learners naturally fall into populations of programmers and…

In the 21st century, the ubiquitous nature of technology today is evident and to a large extent, most of us benefit from the modern convenience brought about by technology. Yet to be technology literate, it is argued that learning to program still plays an important role. One area of research in programming concerns the identification of…