Blended learning models for introductory programming courses: A systematic review.

Ali Alammary,Karen-Leigh Edward

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0221765

Abstract

Teaching introductory programming courses is not an easy task. Instructors of introductory programming courses are facing many challenges related to the nature of programming, the students’ characteristics and the traditional teaching methods that they are using. Blended learning seems to be a promising approach to address these challenges. Many studies concluded that blended learning can be more effective than traditional teaching and can improve students’ learning experience. However, the current state of knowledge and practice in applying blended learning to introductory programming courses is limited. In an attempt to begin remedying this gap, this review synthesizes the different blended learning approaches that have been applied in introductory programming courses. It classifies them into five models then discusses the impact of each of these models on the learning experience of novice programmers. It concludes by providing some recommendations for instructors who want to blend their courses as well as some implications for future research.

Highlights

Teaching programming to first year programming students is a difficult task for many instructors in higher education field
Novice programming students experience different types of difficulties which contribute to high dropout and failure rates in introductory programming courses [1, 2]
Over the last decade, blended learning has been growing in popularity as it has proved to be an effective approach to overcome various limitations related to traditional teaching approaches [5]

Summary

Introduction

Teaching programming to first year programming students is a difficult task for many instructors in higher education field. More instructors are realizing the need to develop and utilize new teaching and learning approaches that can better improve their students’ learning experience. A number of instructors have attempted to utilize blended learning to improve their students’ performance in introductory programming courses [6, 7]. In their attempts, they utilized different blended learning components and adopted different blended learning models. Teaching introductory programming courses is still challenging for most instructors [11, 12]. In traditional classrooms all students must learn in the same way and in accordance with the instructor’s style of teaching and pedagogical strategies

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion