The Role of Self-Regulation in Programming Problem Solving Process and Success

Abstract

While prior work has investigated many aspects of programming problem solving, the role of self-regulation in problem solving success has received little attention. In this paper we contribute a framework for reasoning about self-regulation in programming problem solving. We then use this framework to investigate how 37 novice programmers of varying experience used self-regulation during a sequence of programming problems. We analyzed the extent to which novices engaged in five kinds of self-regulation during their problem solving, how this self-regulation varied between students enrolled in CS1 and CS2, and how self-regulation played a role in structuring problem solving. We then investigated the relationship between self-regulation and programming errors. Our results indicate that while most novices engage in selfregulation to navigate and inform their problem solving efforts, these self-regulation efforts are only effective when accompanied by programming knowledge adequate to succeed at solving a given problem, and only some types of self-regulation appeared related to errors. We discuss the implications of these findings on problem solving pedagogy in computing education.

Teaching Explicit Programming Strategies to Adolescents

“…It requires the mastery of programming language semantics [18], common patterns of computation [15], ever-changing APIs and tools [13], and several software engineering skills, such as testing, debugging, and program design [12]. Learners also need strong self-regulation skills, both to regulate their learning [7], but also to regulate their programming process [16,17]. The range of skills required in programming may be one reason why teaching programming is so difficult [11,21].…”

Investigação da Rotina de Aprendizagem de Desenvolvedores de Software

“…Por exemplo, [Fontana et al 2015] introduz um instrumento criado para mensurar SRL no ambiente de trabalho. No caso de aplicação de estratégias em contexto de desenvolvimento de software, destacam-se trabalhos sobre autorregulação presente nas atividades de aprendizagem de programação no ambiente acadêmico [Ç akiroglu et al 2018, Falkner et al 2014, Loksa and Ko 2016, Pedrosa et al 2016.…”

Learning by Reviewing Paper-Based Programming Assessments

“…They use this information to adapt their current strategies and behavior [1]. Aside from motivation, metacognition, and resource management strategy, being able to monitor one's progress and understanding is critical to succeed in problem solving in programming learning [2][3][4][5]. Unfortunately, novices and experts employ different such self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies [6].…”

“…We have begun to see more empirical and qualitative mixed method studies reporting SRL during programming problem solving. For instance, students solve code rearrangement Parson problems using sub-goal labelling [7]; the iterative programming process framework supports SRL activities [3]; adequate prior knowledge affects the searching and evaluating processes in programming problem solving [8].…”