Integration of programming in Norwegian schools: The effects of prior programming experience on students in a university-level programming course

Abstract

In 2020 a curriculum renewal in Norway integrated programming into multiple subjects at both elementary schools and upper secondary schools. This was done with the hopes of improving deep learning and introducing computational thinking to pupils attending the schools. Some criticism has been raised against the decision, with some declaring that this will hurt deep learning and that programming is better fit being its own subject. The study aims to answer the following questions: • How does prior programming experience from science and technology subjects in upper secondary school affect students who attend first year programming courses at university? • What attitude does university level computer science students have to- wards the curriculum renewal? A qualitative case study were performed using data collected through semi-structured interviews of first year computer science students. There were six students interviewed in total, with two students who had prior programming experience from math class, and four students who did not have earlier experience. All students with previous programming experience enjoyed having programming as part of their class and felt mastery, however there were mixed responses when it came to the competence of their teachers. The experienced students also seemed more confident explaining the concept of programming, and managed to use real life examples in their descriptions. Most students connected programming to math and were positive to it being integrated into existing subjects rather than having it as its own subject. When faced with code snippets, the experienced group handled it systematically by analysing the inputs and outputs of the functions before moving on the the function itself, in contrast to the inexperienced students who read the code line by line starting at the top. Students are positive to having programming integrated into the school curriculum, and their motivations are not affected by the competence of their teachers. Students seem to mostly have their competence restricted to python and its syntax.