Learning to program - difficulties and solutions

TLDR

Programming is a core CS subject but suffers from high dropout and failure rates, largely due to students’ limited problem‑solving and algorithmic skills. The paper examines these causes and proposes solutions to mitigate student difficulties in programming.

Abstract

Programming is a fundamental part of computer science curriculum, but it is often proble matic. The high drop out and failure rates in introductory programming courses are a universal problem that motivated many researchers to propose methodologies and tools to help students. Although some of these tools have been reported to have a positive effect in stu dents learning, the problem still remains mostly unsolved . We think that there are several reasons that cause thi s learning problem. Maybe the most important is the lack of problem solving abilities that many students sho w. They don't know how to program, because they don't know how to create algorithms, mainly due to their lack of general problem solving abilities. This and othe r causes to student difficulties are discussed in thi s paper. Some possible solutions are proposed, so that probl ems can be reduced.