The motivation of students of programming

Abstract

Students approach the study of computing in Higher Education in increasing numbers from an increasingly wide variety of backgrounds. In most degree level courses one of the first modules students will encounter is intended to teach them to program.As the students become more diverse, so do their motivations for taking their degree. Anecdotal evidence from many institutions is that students are becoming more tactical, and will engage only in those activities that they see as contributing to an eventual highly paid job.This paper describes an investigation into the motivations of students for taking a degree in computing, and for studying programming in particular. The results raise a number of issues for the teaching of programming.