STRATEGIES USED AND LESSONS LEARNED IN TEACHING PROGRAMMING I FOR FIRST YEAR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

摘要

In this paper, we report an experimental study of teaching strategies used in teaching C++ programming for the first year undergraduate students in a small liberal arts university. The paper describes and empirically evaluates two different techniques used to teach students who have minimal programming and computing skills. We started the teaching process by conducting a background survey from the students who enrolled in programming I classes. The combined design and coding model is constructed for teaching this group based on the survey result. We analyze the survey elements, report our design framework and course structure, and discuss our teaching process and experience. The proposed teaching strategies are proved to be effective in increasing students' ability in programming and problem solving techniques. The overall evaluation of the course showed our teaching methods are beneficial and effective, especially for teaching students with limited background in computing and programming.