Review on Challenges and Solutions in Novice Programming Education

Novice programming subject refers to the first programming subject taken by a student. This is also commonly known as Computer Science 1 (CS1) subject. It is concluded that the average failure rate of a novice programming class is 30%. The systematic review collects data between 2000 and 2022 via the Scopus database. Keywords utilized were ”programming, coding, computer” and ”introductory, novice”. The first search resulted in 940 results. The second search added the focus on curriculum. This search only returned 11 results. The papers were analysed to determine if imperative-first or object-first should be adopted. The research indicates that block-based programming is mainly used in K12 education, or CS1 without programming in K12 education. Even though the programming languages used are objectoriented, the activities and class content do not focus on object-oriented programming. The main focus is still learning to solve problems, and imperative-first programming is more commonly implemented. The third search with the word challenges and difficulties returned 163 results. Further search was done for the word within abstract, returning 39 results. The findings indicate 17 research implemented imperative programming vs 1 on object. Most of the research in undergraduate studies implemented textbased programming (22 cases) vs block-based programming (5 cases). Another two observations are automated tools to support teaching and learning, especially personalizing feedback, and the social aspect of learning, for example collaborative learning. This research indicates that the trend for solution has moved from error analysis to block based programming to the future of learning tools automation.

I. Introduction

The word ”novice”, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, refers to ”a person who is not experienced in a job or situation” Novice programming subject addressed in this paper refers to the first programming subject for a student. The student was not exposed to any programming concepts before taking this class. Novice programming subject carries the name, for example, ”Fundamentals of programming”, ”Introduction to programming”, ”Programming I”, ”Programming principles”, or ”Computer Science 1”. Some institutions use the term ”Computer Science 0” for the first programming subject [1], [2]. However, ACM and IEEE do not consider ”CS0” as part of the introductory course to computer science [3]. The Novice programming subject will be referred to as CS1 in this paper.