Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is based on an alternative pedagogical model to the conventional, didactic one, and offers benefits to the quality of student learning. The approach has been adopted by many institutions. The focus of this paper is on the influence of the learning support structure in an environment (such as the typical PBL environment) that encourages student independence as one of its basic tenets. The immediate reaction might be to assume that it takes on a reduced importance in such circumstances. That assumption is challenged in this paper.

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When studying a programming language for the first time, the majority of student errors fall into broad (and well-documented) categories [3]. This paper aims to investigate errors made by first year students in Blue: A new, object-oriented language specifically designed at the University of Sydney for teaching novice students [2]. These errors were investigated by a survey delivered over the World-Wide Web and consisting of multiple choice and freeform short-answer questions. The results of the survey suggest that a student who learns with Blue is no more likely to make errors that are commonly made by novice programmers, although is not necessarily better equipped to design and write code in an objectoriented paradigm. More research is indicated to make statements about the latter.

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