Knowledge and Skill Retention in Introduction to Programming Course

Computer programming is a difficult and complicated subject for students to learn. It requires a combination of problem-solving skills, math skills, and knowledge of different types of syntax. Many students struggle with programming classes, especially introductory classes. This lack of understanding and resulting frustration often causes students to fail or decide to drop a class. It is a difficult subject to teach as well, with many professors not being able to effectively relay the material to the students, since every student's understanding of programming is different. This upsetting first experience unfortunately pushes many students away from technology-related majors. For this research, we selected the introductory programming class TEC 151 in the Technology Department at Illinois State University. This course was selected due to the high number of students who experience issues with the class. We distributed a survey to students who were enrolled in TEC 151 in the past four years. We asked questions about the pacing of the class, the professor's teaching methods, and the usefulness of the course material. Data was collected and the responses were analyzed to better understand which aspects of this class could be improved to help students better understand programming. This report outlines the methods we used to distribute the survey, how we analyzed the data, and how it relates to the specific problem we hope to solve. The results from students who were previously enrolled in the class indicated that they had problems with the structure and speed of the class.