Error Management Training in Computer Programming Courses through a System of Tasks

Errors are an indivisible part of computer programming, and as such their incorporation as a tool in teaching is a natural approach to stimulate learners to be an active side in the educational process. The application of errors as an instrument for illustration of knowledge, and the encouragement of students to learn from them, is the main approach of Error Management Training (EMT). EMT has been shown in number of psychological studies (Frese 1995; Keith & Frese 2008; Dyre et al. 2017) as an efficient teaching technique, even compared to the traditional error-avoidance methods. In this paper we present an application of EMT in computer programming courses, based on different approaches for error handling, which must be an important part of the curriculum.