Teaching computer programming with PRIMM: a sociocultural perspective

Abstract

Background and Context: With computing now becoming a mandatory subject in school in many countries, there is a need for clearly defined pedagogical strategies to support all learners; this is particularly pertinent when teaching computer programming, which novice adults have struggled with for decades. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory emphasises the importance of language, mediation, and the transfer of skills and knowledge from the social into the cognitive plane. This perspective has influenced the development of PRIMM (Predict, Run, Investigate, Modify, Make), a structured approach to teaching programming. Objective: The objective of the study was to find out if using PRIMM to teach programming had an impact on learner attainment in secondary school, and the extent to which it was a valuable method for teachers. Method: We evaluated the use of PRIMM in 13 schools with 493 students aged 11-14 alongside a control group, using a mixed-methods approach. Teachers delivered programming lessons using the PRIMM approach for 8-12 weeks. Data were collected via a combination of a baseline test, a post-test to compare control and experimental groups, and teacher interviews. Findings: Learners who participated in the PRIMM lessons performed better in the post test than the control group. Teachers reported several benefits of the PRIMM approach, including that PRIMM helped them to teach effectively in mixed-ability classes, enabling all learners to make progress. Implications: We hope that PRIMM makes a contribution to programming education research, as it builds on previous work in effective pedagogy for teachers, and encourages the use of language and dialogue to facilitate understanding. Through our evaluation of PRIMM and engagement with classroom teachers, we propose a framework for understanding the learning of programming in the classroom, and present this as an avenue for further research.

P12 Computing in Italy, England and Alabama, USA

“…These students continue to develop their proficiency in applying CT to increasingly more complex programming problems, selecting appropriate algorithms and data structures to create a unique digital solution to each problem they encounter. Additionally, all computing students are expected to document the design, development and deployment stages of their solution using appropriate methodologies, such as PRIMM [36]. Alabama, USA.…”

Developing an Inclusive K-12 Outreach Model

“…The coding session involved activities with increasing levels of difficulty: starting with displaying the students initials on the screen up to and including building and testing a step-counter. The activities used in this session consisted of the following: Modelling; PRIMM [31]; Targeted Programming Tasks (Debugging, Intentional Errors, Fill in the gaps, Worked Examples); Narratives; Paired Programming; Algorithm Design. It is acknowledged that time on task for each of these pedagogy were limited, where the outreach model aimed to expose students to multiple teaching and learning approaches.…”

Teachers' Experiences of using PRIMM to Teach Programming in School

“…14 teachers were recruited, of whom 13 completed the trial and taught just less than 500 students using PRIMM for a period of three to four months at the beginning of 2018. As a separate part of the study we used a quasi-experimental approach to investigate the impact of PRIMM on students' performance [27], with an experimental group of 493 students performing significantly better (p<.05) than a comparison group of 180 students in a post-test. In this paper, we focus on the qualitative analysis, and the teachers' experiences of PRIMM.…”