Comparison of two teaching methods for learning a computer-programming language

The purpose of this study was to determine, through experimentation, if a structured, conceptual method of instruction, combined with assigned structured supplementary examples of computer program routines would produce higher test scoies and better written programs than the traditional lecture and demonstration methods of instruction.

A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest control group, design was used in the study. The population consisted of students enrolled in the BASIC computer-programming courses taught in Technological and Adult Education Department (TAB) at the University of Tennessee. The sample for the initial study was comprised of the 22 students attending the two sections of the course TAB 5150 during the Spring quarter, 1987. The study was replicated in the first session of the Summer quarter with a sample of 19 students attended the same course TAB 5150.

Fifteen supplementary aid examples and four instruments were developed for this study; (a) the demographic survey, (b) the knowledge test, (c) the final exam, (d) and the program checklist.

The data were collected and then analyzed using the t-test to determine if there had developed a significant difference in students' achievement and programming skills between the experimental and control groups.

The major findings of this study included:

1. In the initial study, students' pretest-posttest mean-gain scores were significantly higher for the experimental group than that for the control group. However, in the replication study, no apparent significant difference was found between the two groups.

2. In the initial study, the students' ability to read and trace the flow of a program was significantly better for the experimental group than that of the control group. However, the replication study did not produce the same result.

3. At the end of the study and its replication, there was no significant difference in programming skills between the experimental and the control group.

It was concluded, that the lecture and demonstration method of computer-programming language instruction, supplemented with assigned structured aid examples, does not significantly enhance students' achievement and programming skills any more than the traditional lecture and demonstration method alone.