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Characteristics of programming exercises that lead to poor learning tendencies: Part II

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Published:25 June 2001Publication History

ABSTRACT

In most introductory programming courses tasks are given to students to complete as a crucial part of their study. The tasks are considered important because they require students to apply their knowledge to new situations. However, often the tasks have not been considered as a vehicle that can direct learning behaviours in students. In this paper attention is paid to features of programming tasks that led to the following three poor learning behaviours: non-retrieval, lack of internal reflective thinking and lack of external reflective thinking. The data gathered for this study is provided by students and tutors, and describes the students' engagement in the tasks. The paper concludes with a list of generic improvements that should be considered when formulating programming exercises to minimise poor learning behaviours in students.

References

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  1. Characteristics of programming exercises that lead to poor learning tendencies: Part II

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    • Published in

      cover image ACM Conferences
      ITiCSE '01: Proceedings of the 6th annual conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
      June 2001
      198 pages
      ISBN:1581133308
      DOI:10.1145/377435

      Copyright © 2001 ACM

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      Association for Computing Machinery

      New York, NY, United States

      Publication History

      • Published: 25 June 2001

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      ITiCSE '01 Paper Acceptance Rate43of139submissions,31%Overall Acceptance Rate552of1,613submissions,34%

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