The Complexities of Teaching a Program to Find the Largest of Three Numbers in the CS1 Course

Abstract

Abstract : This study explores social, cognitive, metacognitive, and affective aspects of teaching a simple programming problem by a lab instructor. Every programming problem in practice creates a unique teaching experience. The lab instructor is the implementer of the educational policies, curriculum, course design, institutional culture and represents the system for the student. As an essential point of contact between the system and the student, the instructor has an enormous opportunity to contribute to the students' learning. Therefore, there is a need to capture these experiences to improve the quality of instruction. A phenomenological lived experience method is adopted to describe teaching the example problem to find the largest of three numbers in a CS1 course. In the social domain, we present the difficulties faced due to differences in competency between instructors and teachers. In the cognitive domain, we present the difficulties due to the variations possible in the program and lack of time to teach the problem. In the metacognitive domain, we present the difficulties of engaging students at higher cognitive levels of applying, analyzing, and evaluating. Finally, in the affective domain, we present the difficulties related toacceptance, judgment, the time required for the relationship, and the need for completion. Keywords : Critical Pedagogy, CS1, Introductory Programming Course, Lived Experience, Reflective Practice