Analyzing How Interest in Learning Programming Changes During a CS0 Course: A Qualitative Study with Brazilian Undergraduates

In this paper, we present the preliminary findings of a study proposed to understand how interest of novices in learning programming changed during a CS0 course. This in-depth qualitative study, based on a longitudinal design, was performed over four months. Observing the learning experience of ten Brazilian freshmen students, the authors could obtain a dynamic view about how their interest in learning programming changed and why changes occurred. Six trajectories of interest were identified and the factors that had influence on them. As an example, the sense of being completing same tasks again when working on similar problems as before but in more detail was revealed as an inhibitor aspect to develop their interest. The Four-Phase Model of Interest Development was used as a theoretical framework to identify these trajectories. Looking at interest under this perspective was important to better understand how novices engage with introductory computer science and what might nurture and inhibit their interest in learning this content. This knowledge is something that CS educators could take into account when planning instructional strategies, course material and tasks.