Using active learning integrated with pedagogical aspects to enhance student’s learning experience in programming and related concepts

Abstract

Teaching programming concepts and skills to beginners is a challenging and daunting task. As undergraduates, students struggle with understanding the fundamental concepts of programming and learning the syntaxes to build up a solution to an existing problem. The main challenges in delivering an introductory programming module are to get the students actively engaged within and outside the classroom and to increase the level of interest towards programming. Many researchers have tried out using different active learning tools and techniques to engage students in the learning process interactively. Even though lot of different techniques and tools have been introduced with time there is still a reluctancy among the learners and academics to move from the traditional teacher centric learning environment to a more interactive student centric environment. This research is focusing on how active learning integrated with pedagogical aspects can be used in an introductory programming module and the effectiveness of it when compared with a traditional approach.