Students face several difficulties in introductory programming courses (CS1), often leading to high dropout rates, student demotivation, and lack of interest. The literature has indicated that the adequate use of gamification might improve learning in several domains, including CS1. However, the understanding of which (and how) factors influence…

A replication study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of an instructional treatment based on self-efficacy theory when used with novice Arduino microcontroller users. Students (n = 32) in an introductory university agricultural systems technology course participated in a lesson on Arduino microcontrollers, circuit breadboarding, and…

With the increased reliance on technology, computer programming has emerged as an essential skill that is interesting to many audiences beyond merely computer scientists. As a result, many students from various disciplines take first-year computer science courses. This led to classrooms with a lot of diversity in student motivation, backgrounds,…

Small teaching approaches are well-structured, incremental teaching improvement techniques supported by research in cognitive science, memory, and learning. I systematically implement a series of small teaching activities in an introductory programming course to tackle the teaching and learning challenges faced by instructors and students. The…

For most beginners, learning computer programming is a complex undertaking. Demotivation and learned helplessness have been widely reported. In addition to the subject's complexity, low in-class involvement has been linked to poor student performance. This work introduces a novel instructional technique called Student-Driven Probe Instruction…

Programming and coding skills are in high demand, and can provide access to employment in growing fields. But a high percentage of undergraduates who enroll in relevant programs do not persist until they achieve competency in the subject and employment in the field. Revel for "Introduction to Java Programming" aims to give students an…

Programming and coding skills are in high demand, and can provide access to employment in growing fields. But a high percentage of undergraduates who enroll in relevant programs do not persist until they achieve competency in the subject and employment in the field. Revel is an interactive learning environment intended to help students prepare for…

Researchers and educators are concerned about student success in tertiary programming courses, a situation that is even more pronounced in open and distance e-learning institutions. The aim of this study was to integrate 60 video lessons and compare passing and failing student in terms of their performance in JavaScript with three broad online…

This study explored students' perceptions of a flipped classroom for an introductory programming class. Students were required to watch video lectures and read lecture notes in advance (pre-class self-study) to prepare themselves for the in-class lectures and tutorials. A mix-methods approach was employed: quantitative survey (n=204) and…

When solving counting problems, students often struggle with determining what they are trying to count (and thus what problem type they are trying to solve and, ultimately, what formula appropriately applies). There is a need to explore potential interventions to deepen students' understanding of key distinctions between problem types and to…

In the current literature, there is limited evidence of the effects of teaching programming languages using two different paradigms concurrently. In this paper, we present our experience in using a multiparadigm and multiprogramming approach for an Introduction to Programming course. The multiparadigm element consisted of teaching the imperative…

Abstraction is one of the most fundamental ideas in computer science (CS), and as such, according to Bruner, it should be taught spirally, starting as early as possible and revisited at every level of education. However, teaching CS abstraction to novices is a very challenging task, and CS educational research has often demonstrated students'…

Online textbooks allow instructors to provide interactive and engaging activities for students. In this paper, we look at how providing an interactive online textbook is utilized and valued in a beginning computer programming course. In addition, we compare the utilization of the online textbook to the student final course grade. Our findings…

The article is devoted to the issues of teaching mobile application development and, as a consequence, training of highly qualified in-demand mobile developers. Nowadays, training professional mobile developers is a crucial task all over the world. The researchers emphasize the complexity of mobile application development associated with its…

A solid foundation in computer programming is critical for students to succeed in advanced computing courses, but teaching such an introductory course is challenging. Therefore, it is important to develop better approaches in order to improve teaching effectiveness and enhance student learning. In this paper, we present 26 tips for teaching…