The value of discussion classes for teaching introductory programming
Dianne Hagan, Judy Sheard · 1998
In an attempt to improve the teaching and learning of first year programming, a weekly one-hour discussion class was added in 1996 to the lectures and microcomputer laboratory sessions that students attended. Discussion classes were held in classrooms without computers, and students were provided with enjoyable activities to perform in small groups. The activities forced discussion of new programming concepts, and helped students to clarify their understanding of them. The tutors' role was to provoke discussion rather than simply providing answers. Student results that year showed an improvement. In 1997, for financial reasons, the discussion classes were discontinued, and student results deteriorated. As a consequence, discussion classes have been reinstated in 1998. The language used to implement the programming concepts in each of these years was C++.