A Syllabi Analysis of CS1 Courses from Brazilian Public Universities

Abstract

The design and administration of methodological interventions is a possible way to address dropout and failure rates in undergraduate introductory programming courses (CS1). However, to implement such strategies, it is required to identify how CS1 courses are organized and offered to students. In this work, we analyzed 225 syllabi from CS1 courses distributed in 95 Brazilian public universities. We collected these syllabi from Brazilian undergraduate programs with focus on Computer Science aspects. We report context information regarding the most covered topics, most common CS1 course names, when undergraduates take the course, total class hours, and the programming paradigms and languages taught. The results indicate that the Brazilian scenario has its own characteristics that differs from those presented in related work conducted in other countries or world regions. In Brazil, we identified 90% of the analyzed CS1 courses teaches the procedural paradigm, with C as the most common programming language (53% of the total). These results differ from those conducted in other countries where Java and object-oriented are the most common languages and paradigm taught in CS1 courses. We believe that our results can be used to: (1) provide an update to those interested in the Brazilian scenario of CS1 courses; (2) support future interventions in teaching and learning of CS1; and (3) support the Brazilian community in the development of future CS1 syllabi.

When Test Cases Are Not Enough: Identification, Assessment, and Rationale of Misconceptions in Correct Code (MC³)

“…Although their feedback can be customized, it raises the same regarding instructors' increased workload. Furthermore, the effectiveness of these tools de-RBIE v.31 -2023 pends on the topics covered in each course, as the CS1 syllabus may vary (Becker & Fitzpatrick, 2019;Silva et al, 2023c). Evidence suggests further research to explore and develop viable and comprehensive approaches to integrating automated MC³ detection in CS1 courses.…”

“…Another limitation stems from the dataset used to identify MC³. While the analyzed assignments (Table 2) and the identified MC³ categories (Table 3) represented topics listed as most covered in typical CS1 courses (Becker & Fitzpatrick, 2019;Silva et al, 2023c), we acknowledge that our MC³ list may not be exhaustive. Specific MC³ related to other CS1 concepts may exist.…”