Toward a Developmental Epistemology of Computer Programming

This paper was written as a companion to my keynote address at the 11th Workshop in Primary and Secondary Computing Education (WiPSCE 2016). The paper outlines my own research on how novices learn to program. Any reader whose interest has been piqued may pursue furher detail in the papers cited. I begin by explaining my philosophical position. In making that explanation, I do not claim that it is the only right position; on the contrary I allude to other philosophical positions that I regard as complimentary to my own. The academic warfare between these positions is pointless and counterproductive --- all the established positions have something positive to offer. Having established my position, I then go on to argue that the work of Jean Piaget, and subsequent neo-Piagetians, offers useful insight into how children learn to program computers.