University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The Effects of Programming Instruction in Procedural Programming and Logic Programming Environments on Problem-Solving Ability

Chou, Wen-Chung

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/71935

Description

Title
The Effects of Programming Instruction in Procedural Programming and Logic Programming Environments on Problem-Solving Ability
Author(s)
Chou, Wen-Chung
Issue Date
1993
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Dennis, J. Richard
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • Education, Technology of
  • Education, Curriculum and Instruction
  • Computer Science
Abstract
  • The purposes of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of programming instruction on students' problem-solving abilities, and to explore whether a logic programming or a procedural programming environment results in different degrees of cognitive transfer in terms of procedural, declarative, and conditional thinking skills. In an attempt to identify factors which influence programming learning, this study investigated interaction effects between types of programming instruction and students' aptitude variables, gender and computer anxiety.
  • Three intact classes of 35 students each from the Department of Mathematics and Science Education at Pingtung Teacher's College in Taiwan were randomly assigned to a procedural programming group (QuickBASIC), a logic programming group (Turbo Prolog), and a control group. The study followed a nine-week schedule, the first and the last weeks designated for administration of pre-and post-tests, respectively. An ANCOVA analysis and a multiple regression analysis were used to test statistical hypotheses about programming effects and interactions.
  • Findings of this study indicate that procedural programming is effective in developing procedural thinking skills, while logic programming is effective in developing declarative thinking skills. Neither programming environment had a significant effect on the development of conditional thinking skills. In terms of cognitive development, female students performed better than male students in a logic programming environment, while the reverse was true in a procedural programming environment. No significant interaction was found between computer anxiety and types of programming instruction.
  • Implications of this study for teaching practice are (a) serious consideration of including both procedural programming and logic programming environments in the school curriculum, (b) developing optimum computing environments that foster all procedural thinking, declarative thinking, and conditional thinking skills, (c) cultivating students' abilities to solve daily-life oriented problems with logic programming environments, and (d) adapting programming environments to individual differences. In addition, future studies should concentrate more on identifying near transfer rather than far transfer effects. Recommendations for future research are provided in this dissertation.
Graduation Semester
1993
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/71935

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