The role of metacognitive skills in solving object-oriented programming problems: a case study

Abstract

This article reports on the role of metacognitive skills when solving object-oriented programming problems as part of a case study. The research was constructivist-based within an interpretivist approach to explore how four students constructed their own thinking when solving programming problems. A qualitative methodology was employed. Both concept-driven coding and data-driven coding were applied. Two main issues emerged from the findings. Participating students had fragmented knowledge of the object-oriented approach and shortcomings regarding the implementation thereof, and they experienced problems with metacognitive control during all the steps of program development. Based on the findings the use of metacognitive critical control points (MCCPs) is proposed to be used as a mechanism to facilitate students in their programming efforts and to prevent loss of control during program development.

Improving Novice Students’ Computational Thinking Skills by Problem-Solving and Metacognitive Techniques

“…The procedure of the data collection of this study was slightly adapted from that used by Havenga (2015) who used a series of interviews that were carried out before and after an intervention. Such a slight adaptation was made to suit the context of this study.…”

“…Surely, the findings of such studies could inform practitioners of the appropriate teaching techniques that they could use to help students develop such skills (Filiz, 2016). Admittedly, many studies have been carried out thus far, but they were primarily focused on metacognitive and problem-solving skills needed for programming (Havenga, 2015), with only a handful being dedicated to investigating their relations to CT. To date, a growing number of local researchers have carried out several studies that dealt with such a research focus (Mohd Rum, 2015;Ung, 2017). Such studies, however, mainly centered on the preparation of schools' teachers who would implement teaching activities that could enhance students' CT. By contrast, there is a dearth of similar studies that focus on the preparation of college and university lecturers that would them choose proper teaching and learning techniques to help improve undergraduates' and college students' CT.…”

Do Computer Science Students Understand Their Programming Task?—A Case Study of Solving the Josephus Variant Problem

“…Studies also discussed SR deficiencies of CS students. Havenga (2015) reported that although students are aware of their fragmented knowledge of, and potential misconceptions on, various object-oriented programming concepts, they tend to jump into solving a given task instead of addressing their fragmented knowledge and confirming the potential misconceptions. This report suggests that some CS students are incapable of self-regulating themselves properly.…”

Critérios para inserção de estratégias cognitivas e metacognitivas no desenvolvimento de lógica de programação em ambientes virtuais de aprendizagem.

“…Outras pesquisas mostram que o uso de estratégias metacognitivas (e.g. autorregulação) geram melhor desempenho acadêmico em cursos introdutórios de Programação [Bergin et al 2005, Pimentel et al 2005, Havenga et al 2013, Lishinski et al 2016], e no desenvolvimento de programas orientados a objetos [Havenga 2015 2016) apresentaram uma revisão sistemática de juízes online para o ensino de programação elencando um conjunto de requisitos funcionais e não funcionais que devem ser atendidos. Os autores apontaram a importância de definir padrões que permitam a comparação formal e rigorosa das ferramentas usadas no ensino de programação.…”