A study of the difficulties of novice programmers

TLDR

Programming basics are studied by many university students, yet they often encounter difficulties early on, highlighting the need to recognize these challenges to improve learning and teaching. This study investigates programming learning difficulties to inform the development of basic programming course materials and analyzes survey results. An international survey of over 500 students and teachers was conducted to identify and understand these difficulties. The survey revealed common difficulties in learning and teaching programming and supplied a foundation for recommending improved learning materials and approaches.

Abstract

Programming is related to several fields of technology, and many university students are studying the basics of it. Unfortunately, they often face difficulties already on the basic courses. This work studies the difficulties in learning programming in order to support developing learning materials for basic programming courses. The difficulties have to be recognized to be able to aid learning and teaching in an effective way.An international survey of opinions was organized for more than 500 students and teachers. This paper analyses the results of the survey. The survey provides information of the difficulties experienced and perceived when learning and teaching programming. The survey results also provide basis for recommendations for developing learning materials and approaches.