Cognitive Requirements of Learning Computer Programming in Group and individual Settings
Noreen M. Webb · AEDS Journal · 1985
This study investigated the achievement and cognitive requirements of achievement among students learning computer programming in individual and small group settings. Fifty-five students aged 11 to 14 learned a half-day unit on microcomputer BASIC with one or two students to a computer. Programming outcomes measured here included knowledge of commands, knowledge of syntax, ability to interpret programs, and ability to generate programs. No difference on any programming outcome appeared between individual and group settings. The cognitive prerequisites of learning computer programming, however, differed between learning settings and across computer programming outcomes. Quantitative and verbal ability were the best predictors of programming outcomes in the individual setting. Nonverbal reasoning, spatial ability, and age were additional potent predictors of learning in the group setting.