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Computers
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Future Trends in Computer Programming Education
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Future Trends in Computer Programming Education

A special issue of Computers (ISSN 2073-431X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 8529

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Stelios Xinogalos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Information Sciences, Department of Applied Informatics, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: programming environments and techniques; object-oriented design and programming; educational environments and games for programming; didactics of programming; serious games
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Teaching and learning programming is a never-ending story. It is widely accepted that learning programming is difficult and the classic approach to teaching programming, which is based on using a conventional programming language and environment for solving number and symbol-processing problems, is quite problematic. Students have to be supported, motivated and engaged in the learning process in order to comprehend the principles of programming and write good-quality code. Several types of educational programming environments and tools have been developed in recent decades, such as programming microworlds, structure editors, program/software visualization tools, and flowchart-based programming environments, among others. Several teaching approaches have also been devised based on the aforementioned tools. Moreover, extended research has been carried out regarding the best strategy for introducing novices to programming, including the imperative-first, function-first and object-first strategies, as well as the most appropriate language for each strategy.

In recent years, the educational community around the world has shown an even greater interest in teaching and learning programming as a means of promoting computational thinking, which is considered important for everyone and not just computer scientists. Today, primary school kids are educated to think computationally through specially designed programming environments, such as Scratch or the widely known “Hour of Code” games.

Another important dimension of the work around teaching and learning programming in today’s world lies in the way that “digital natives” grow up and learn. Game-based learning and educational/serious games are considered a promising approach for learning programming. Pair programming and more recently distributed pair programming are other contemporary approaches that promote collaboration among students, which is also considered important.

The objective of this Special Issue is to explore recent advances and future trends in computer programming education.

Prof. Dr. Stelios Xinogalos
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Computers is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • strategies for teaching programming (e.g., object-first, imperative-first, function-first)
  • programming languages for an introduction to programming
  • teaching approaches for an introduction to programming
  • procedural/object-oriented/web/game/etc. programming education
  • cultivating computational thinking skills through programming
  • educational programming environments
  • programming microworlds
  • structure editors
  • program/software visualization tools
  • software quality tools for education
  • tangible programming languages/environments
  • educational/serious games for programming
  • distributed pair programming

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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29 pages, 1466 KiB  
Article
Teach Programming Using Task-Driven Case Studies: Pedagogical Approach, Guidelines, and Implementation
by Jaroslav Porubän, Milan Nosál’, Matúš Sulír and Sergej Chodarev
Computers 2024, 13(9), 221; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13090221 - 5 Sep 2024
Viewed by 726
Abstract
Despite the effort invested to improve the teaching of programming, students often face problems with understanding its principles when using traditional learning approaches. This paper presents a novel teaching method for programming, combining the task-driven methodology and the case study approach. This method [...] Read more.
Despite the effort invested to improve the teaching of programming, students often face problems with understanding its principles when using traditional learning approaches. This paper presents a novel teaching method for programming, combining the task-driven methodology and the case study approach. This method is called a task-driven case study. The case study aspect should provide a real-world context for the examples used to explain the required knowledge. The tasks guide students during the course to ensure that they will not fall into bad practices. We provide reasoning for using the combination of these two methodologies and define the essential properties of our method. Using a specific example of the Minesweeper case study from the Java technologies course, the readers are guided through the process of the case study selection, solution implementation, study guide writing, and course execution. The teachers’ and students’ experiences with this approach, including its advantages and potential drawbacks, are also summarized. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Trends in Computer Programming Education)
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22 pages, 3039 KiB  
Article
Measuring Undergraduates’ Motivation Levels When Learning to Program in Virtual Worlds
by Juan Gabriel López Solórzano, Christian Jonathan Ángel Rueda and Osslan Osiris Vergara Villegas
Computers 2024, 13(8), 188; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13080188 - 31 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1107
Abstract
Teaching/learning programming is complex, and conventional classes often fail to arouse students’ motivation in this discipline. Therefore, teachers should look for alternative methods for teaching programming. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be a valuable alternative, especially virtual worlds. This study measures the [...] Read more.
Teaching/learning programming is complex, and conventional classes often fail to arouse students’ motivation in this discipline. Therefore, teachers should look for alternative methods for teaching programming. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be a valuable alternative, especially virtual worlds. This study measures the students’ motivation level when using virtual worlds to learn introductory programming skills. Moreover, a comparison is conducted regarding their motivation levels when students learn in a traditional teaching setting. In this study, first-semester university students participated in a pedagogical experiment regarding the learning of the programming subject employing virtual worlds. A pre-test-post-test design was carried out. In the pre-test, 102 students participated, and the motivation level when a professor taught in a traditional modality was measured. Then, a post-test was applied to 60 students learning in virtual worlds. With this research, we have found that the activity conducted with virtual worlds presents higher motivation levels than traditional learning with the teacher. Moreover, regarding gender, women present higher confidence than men. We recommend that teachers try this innovation with their students based on our findings. However, teachers must design a didactic model to integrate virtual worlds into daily teaching activities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Trends in Computer Programming Education)
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13 pages, 803 KiB  
Article
Bridging the Gap between Project-Oriented and Exercise-Oriented Automatic Assessment Tools
by Bruno Pereira Cipriano, Bernardo Baltazar, Nuno Fachada, Athanasios Vourvopoulos and Pedro Alves
Computers 2024, 13(7), 162; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13070162 - 30 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1014
Abstract
In this study, we present the DP Plugin for IntelliJ IDEA, designed to extend the Drop Project (DP) Automatic Assessment Tool (AAT) by making it more suitable for handling small exercises in exercise-based learning environments. Our aim was to address the limitations of [...] Read more.
In this study, we present the DP Plugin for IntelliJ IDEA, designed to extend the Drop Project (DP) Automatic Assessment Tool (AAT) by making it more suitable for handling small exercises in exercise-based learning environments. Our aim was to address the limitations of DP in supporting small assignments while retaining its strengths in project-based learning. The plugin leverages DP’s REST API to streamline the submission process, integrating assignment instructions and feedback directly within the IDE. A student survey conducted during the 2022/23 academic year revealed a positive reception, highlighting benefits such as time efficiency and ease of use. Students also provided valuable feedback, leading to various improvements that have since been integrated into the plugin. Despite these promising results, the study is limited by the relatively small percentage of survey respondents. Our findings suggest that an IDE plugin can significantly improve the usability of project-oriented AATs for small exercises, informing the development of future educational tools suitable for mixed project-based and exercise-based learning environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Trends in Computer Programming Education)
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23 pages, 477 KiB  
Article
Searching Questions and Learning Problems in Large Problem Banks: Constructing Tests and Assignments on the Fly
by Oleg Sychev
Computers 2024, 13(6), 144; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13060144 - 5 Jun 2024
Viewed by 817
Abstract
Modern advances in creating shared banks of learning problems and automatic question and problem generation have led to the creation of large question banks in which human teachers cannot view every question. These questions are classified according to the knowledge necessary to solve [...] Read more.
Modern advances in creating shared banks of learning problems and automatic question and problem generation have led to the creation of large question banks in which human teachers cannot view every question. These questions are classified according to the knowledge necessary to solve them and the question difficulties. Constructing tests and assignments on the fly at the teacher’s request eliminates the possibility of cheating by sharing solutions because each student receives a unique set of questions. However, the random generation of predictable and effective assignments from a set of problems is a non-trivial task. In this article, an algorithm for generating assignments based on teachers’ requests for their content is proposed. The algorithm is evaluated on a bank of expression-evaluation questions containing more than 5000 questions. The evaluation shows that the proposed algorithm can guarantee the minimum expected number of target concepts (rules) in an exercise with any settings. The available bank and exercise difficulty chiefly determine the difficulty of the found questions. It almost does not depend on the number of target concepts per item in the exercise: teaching more rules is achieved by rotating them among the exercise items on lower difficulty settings. An ablation study show that all the principal components of the algorithm contribute to its performance. The proposed algorithm can be used to reliably generate individual exercises from large, automatically generated question banks according to teachers’ requests, which is important in massive open online courses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Trends in Computer Programming Education)
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16 pages, 269 KiB  
Article
Explain Trace: Misconceptions of Control-Flow Statements
by Oleg Sychev and Mikhail Denisov
Computers 2023, 12(10), 192; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers12100192 - 24 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1621
Abstract
Control-flow statements often cause misunderstandings among novice computer science students. To better address these problems, teachers need to know the misconceptions that are typical at this stage. In this paper, we present the results of studying students’ misconceptions about control-flow statements. We compiled [...] Read more.
Control-flow statements often cause misunderstandings among novice computer science students. To better address these problems, teachers need to know the misconceptions that are typical at this stage. In this paper, we present the results of studying students’ misconceptions about control-flow statements. We compiled 181 questions, each containing an algorithm written in pseudocode and the execution trace of that algorithm. Some of the traces were correct; others contained highlighted errors. The students were asked to explain in their own words why the selected line of the trace was correct or erroneous. We collected and processed 10,799 answers from 67 CS1 students. Among the 24 misconceptions we found, 6 coincided with misconceptions from other studies, and 7 were narrower cases of known misconceptions. We did not find previous research regarding 11 of the misconceptions we identified. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Trends in Computer Programming Education)
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Review

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19 pages, 675 KiB  
Review
Predicting Student Performance in Introductory Programming Courses
by João P. J. Pires, Fernanda Brito Correia, Anabela Gomes, Ana Rosa Borges and Jorge Bernardino
Computers 2024, 13(9), 219; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13090219 - 5 Sep 2024
Viewed by 733
Abstract
The importance of accurately predicting student performance in education, especially in the challenging curricular unit of Introductory Programming, cannot be overstated. As institutions struggle with high failure rates and look for solutions to improve the learning experience, the need for effective prediction methods [...] Read more.
The importance of accurately predicting student performance in education, especially in the challenging curricular unit of Introductory Programming, cannot be overstated. As institutions struggle with high failure rates and look for solutions to improve the learning experience, the need for effective prediction methods becomes critical. This study aims to conduct a systematic review of the literature on methods for predicting student performance in higher education, specifically in Introductory Programming, focusing on machine learning algorithms. Through this study, we not only present different applicable algorithms but also evaluate their performance, using identified metrics and considering the applicability in the educational context, specifically in higher education and in Introductory Programming. The results obtained through this study allowed us to identify trends in the literature, such as which machine learning algorithms were most applied in the context of predicting students’ performance in Introductory Programming in higher education, as well as which evaluation metrics and datasets are usually used. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Trends in Computer Programming Education)
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23 pages, 2613 KiB  
Review
Study Trends and Core Content Trends of Research on Enhancing Computational Thinking: An Incorporated Bibliometric and Content Analysis Based on the Scopus Database
by Ling-Hsiu Chen and Ha Thi The Nguyen
Computers 2024, 13(4), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/computers13040091 - 3 Apr 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1682
Abstract
Over the last decade, research on evolving computational thinking (CT) has garnered heightened attention. Assessing the publication tendencies and nucleus contents of investigations on progressing CT to direct future research initiatives, develop policies, and integrate them into instructional materials is timely and exceedingly [...] Read more.
Over the last decade, research on evolving computational thinking (CT) has garnered heightened attention. Assessing the publication tendencies and nucleus contents of investigations on progressing CT to direct future research initiatives, develop policies, and integrate them into instructional materials is timely and exceedingly essential in education. Therefore, this research reviewed publications on progressing CT to identify research trends and core contents published in the Scopus database from 2008 to May 2022. For this reason, this study applied bibliometric and content analysis to 132 selected publications. After examining bibliometrics, the findings indicate a steady increase in publications related to game-based learning (GBL) and CT, reaching a peak in 2021, with the United States emerging as the most prolific contributor in terms of authors, institutions, and countries). The leading country in citations is primarily China. The document that received the most citations is Hsu’s 2018 paper on “Computers and Education”. Analysis of keywords and themes reveals core content tendencies, emphasizing teaching methods and attitudes aimed at improving CT via GBL. These results offer valuable insights for researchers and educators to inform their future work. However, future studies may benefit from including other databases such as Web of Science (WoS) and PubMed, employing alternative bibliometric software like VOSviewer or CiteSpace, as well as collecting data from June 2022. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Trends in Computer Programming Education)
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