A Systematic Literature Review on Teaching and Learning Introductory Programming In Higher Education
Keywords:
Achievement, faculty development, higher edu-cation, introductory programming, STEM, student experience,systematicreview.Abstract
Contribution:Thispaperaddstotheresultsofprevious systematic literature reviews by addressing a more con-temporarycontextofintroductoryprogramming.Itproposesa categorization of introductory programming challenges, andhighlights key issues for a research roadmap on introductoryprogramminglearningandteachinginhighereducation.
Background: Despite the advances in methods and tools forteaching and learning introductory programming, dropout andfailure rates are still high. Published surveys and reviews eithercover papers only up to 2007, or focus on methods and tools forteachingintroductoryprogramming.
Research Questions: 1) What previous skills and backgroundknowledgearekeyforanovicestudenttolearnprogramming?
2) Whatdifficultiesdonovicestudentsencounterinlearninghow to program? 3) What challenges do teachers encounter inteachingintroductoryprogramming?
Methodology:Followingaformalprotocol,automaticandman-ualsearcheswereperformedforworkfrom2010to2016.Of100 papers selected for data extraction, 89 were retained afterqualityassessment.
Findings:Themostfrequentlycitedskillsnecessaryforlearningprogrammingwererelatedtoproblemsolvingandmath-ematical ability. Problem solving was also cited as a learningchallenge, followed by motivation and engagement, and difficul-ties in learning the syntax of programming languages. The mainteaching challenges concern the lack of appropriate methods andtools,aswellasscalingandpersonalizedteaching.
