Title
Trends in introductory programming courses in Australian universities: languages, environments and pedagogy
Document Type
Presentation
Publication details
Mason, R, Cooper, GA, & de Raadt, M 2012, 'Trends in introductory programming courses in Australian universities: languages, environments and pedagogy', in M de Raadt & A Carbone (eds), Proceedings of ACE2012 Fourteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference, Melbourne, Vic., 30 January - 3 February, Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology (CRPIT), vol. 123, ACS, pp. 33-42. ISBN: 9781921770043
Published version available from:
Peer Reviewed
Peer-Reviewed
Abstract
This paper reports the results of a study of 44 introductory programming courses in 28 Australian universities, conducted in the latter months of 2010. Results of this study are compared with two censuses previously conducted during 2001 and 2003, to identify trends in student numbers, programming language and environment/tool use and the reasons for choice of these, paradigms taught, instructor experience, text used and time spent on problem solving strategies in lectures and tutorials. Measures of mental effort experienced during the solution of novice programming problems were also examined.