Taking first year college students' programming skills from the visual to the procedural

Abstract

This study investigated first year college students’ programming skills, from the visual to the procedural. The main research question sought to investigate how the integration of a visual programming environment (Scratch) could support the design of a new teaching and learning process framework towards the teaching of procedural (QBASIC) programming in Nigeria. In a quest to answer this central question, four secondary research questions guided the study which was situated in an interpretative philosophy and supported by a multi-method qualitative design. Using hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry, two cycles of practical action research (AR) strategy, involving five stages, were used. Data were collected through open ended and structured classroom observations, interviews, artefacts, instruments and documents. While the whole class was observed, the lived experiences of thirteen students were obtained. Data were thematically analysed based on the hermeneutic cycle principles. In the first AR cycle, the teaching and learning process framework (TLPF1) guided teaching and learning. Outcomes from the first AR cycle influenced the design of the TLPF2. Findings from the study revealed that the teaching intervention using the TLPF1 and TLPF2 promoted student learning and engagement in diverse forms. Scratch supported and enabled students to learn procedural (QBASIC) programming concepts whilst, simultaneously, enhancing their interest and motivation in this field. Understanding gained in Scratch helped students to build a correct mental representation of the Block model for procedural programming, with exception of the relations. The study also established that students learned programming through different means including: accommodation and disequilibrium, social interaction, self-regulation and problem-solving techniques. Students, therefore, suggested that Scratch programming be included in the computer science curriculum for colleges of education in Nigeria. However, contextual issues, student well-being, teachers’ personalities, student behaviour, affective and behavioural states also emerged from the study as factors which can influence the learning of programming. These findings led to the design of a new TLPF3 for programming in Nigeria.