Cognitive Problems in the Process of Programming Teaching in Higher Education: Learner-Instructor Experiences

Abstract

Programming teaching plays an important role in developing cognitive thinking skills that are considered to be among 21st century skills, such as problem solving, critical thinking, reflective and analytical thinking. However, it is considered to be a difficult and complex process due to its abstract structure. In this context, it is important to identify the factors that affect the process of the programming teaching and to develop solutions for these factors. Cognitive factors are the leading factors among them. In this context, the aim of the research is to examine the experiences of students and instructors regarding the cognitive problems they face during the process of programming teaching. Content analysis method was used to examine the experiences of students and instructors. The participants of the research consisted of 14 undergraduate students and 4 instructors selected through purposive sampling method Interviews, reflective student diaries, observer reports and semi-structured focus group interviews were used as data collection tools. It is thought that the cognitive problems determined regarding the process of programming teaching will contribute to the studies aimed at developing programming skills.

Research trends on learning computer programming with program animation: A systematic mapping study

“…On the contrary, only one study examined learners' psychomotor attributes by evaluating their level of program construction and program simulation. Based on the general conviction that programming is difficult [45, 73, 81, 127, 156], it becomes imperative to focus on learners' psychomotor attributes such as behavioral and coding patterns. Focusing on this new body of knowledge would provide scientific evidence on how to address programming challenges associated with syntax identification, error debugging, program construction, and program building.…”

“…Despite these highlighted benefits, there is a growing concern that computer programming is relatively difficult [6, 8, 39, 45, 73, 81, 127, 156, 157]. However, such difficulty is generally associated with how programming is taught in schools and how it is understood by the students [6].…”

“…Grounded on a wide range of individual experiences and context‐specific settings, these studies attribute programming challenges to cognitive‐related and instructional‐related problems. Along the spectrum of cognitive‐related problems, overwhelming research has investigated the cognitive indicators associated with learning programming [38, 45, 77, 102]. One such study was conducted by Elcicek and Karal [45] who found that cognitive problems experienced by students during programming revolves around nine thematic constructs: “syntactic error, conceptual misconceptions, mathematical thinking, algorithmic thinking, sequential and cyclic thinking, pattern recognition and building, making logical inference, abstract thinking, and generalization, and prior learning” (p. 147).…”

Revising the computer programming attitude scale in the context of attitude ambivalence

“…Despite these highlighted benefits, there is a growing concern that computer programming is relatively difficult (Baser, 2013; Demir, 2021; Durak, 2018; Elcicek & Karal, 2020; Lopez‐Pernas et al, 2021; Yang et al, 2015). This difficulty has been associated with attitudes toward learning the course.…”