Computer Science Is Different!: Educational Psychology Experiments Do Not Reliably Replicate in Programming Domain

Abstract

My research explores how learning computer science, specifically programming, differs from learning math or science in relation to educational psychological principles. I have replicated well established experiments from the science and math domains by using instructional design techniques that minimize the cognitive load imposed on the learner. Instead of receiving the expected results confirming that the educational psychology principles also apply to computing, I received unexpected results contrary to the original hypotheses which indicate that merely adapting these principles to a new domain is not enough. I seek to understand what differences exist in learning programming, as compared to the other problem solving domains that explain the confusing experimental results I obtained.