Learning Practice and Theory in Programming Education: Students' Lived Experience

Abstract

Abstract-In learning to program, there is a complex interplay between the learning of practice (what to write, how to read compiler messages, etc.) and the learning of theory (what programming constructs are good for, how they "work", how the programme executes etc.). Our on-going project focuses on this interplay -normally not directly visible for the learners themselves -and offers insights about the complexity of the learning process. From a micro-level analysis of video films of students' collaboration in lab sessions, we follow how the students attention moves from one aspect to another (theoretical or practical), and then further, until, in good cases, we can document that a meaningful learning has taken place. Theoretically the project takes its point of departure in a framework, inspired by the roots of phenomenography and variation theory. Theory and practice are here interpreted from a pragmatic perspective, close to the students' (and, as we believe, most programmers) intuitive understanding and use of the terms. The ultimate aim of the project is to support teachers and teaching institutions to teach programming in such ways that students better learn how to program. That is, the project takes its point of departure in the disciplinary learning -the learning of programming -and aims to propose possible improvements in our teaching, by building on the insights gained by the microanalyses of the students' learning. In this paper we illustrate, from an example, how the research process leads us from microlevel observations on how the students attentions move from different aspects (both theoretical and practical) of the half-ready computer program they aim to finalize, over our analysis of the lab sessions, to some insights in the complex interplay between theory and practice in programming students' learning process.

Design and implementation of Java programming course: strategies, tools, and teaching challenges

“…Modul în care teoria ghidează practica se reflectă în selectarea algoritmului /acțiunii care va duce la cele mai bune rezultate. După cum menționează autorii Berglund și Eckerdal (2015), "în învățarea programării, există o interacțiune complexă între învățarea practicii (ce să scriem, cum să citim mesajele compilatorului etc.) și învățarea teoriei (la ce sunt buni constructorii, cum "funcționează" o procedură, cum se execută programul etc.).…”

“…... și să încurajăm studenții să învețe atât aspectele teoretice ale programării (de exemplu, semnificația unei clauze if, ... unde se pune punct și virgulă, cum se acționează la mesajele de eroare, etc. ), pentru a obține un rezultat bun de învățare" [2].…”

The Influence of Short Term Centralized Programming Training Course on Computer Science Students

“…Without doubt, practicing programming in the lab is an important part in Computer Science Curriculum [4]. Programming training is a sophisticated process (what to write, how to read compiler messages, how to design test cases, etc) [2]. Similar work in [5] discussed the general design and implementation of this kind of course.…”

Data-Driven Analysis of Student Engagement in Time-Limited Computer Laboratories

“…Out-of-order patterns reveal the students who came back to a previous exercise. In [49], the authors highlighted the usefulness of "design by copying" practice, whereas in [50] the authors paid attention to the "we do as we did in the previous exercise" thinking in learning practice. These behaviors also occur in this learning context and explain why the students are used to coming back to the previous exercises; most of students are facing the SQL language practice for the first time and they are not yet familiar with the subject.…”