Focus on Early Misconceptions in the Use of Variables and the Assignment Operator to Facilitate Progress in Learning Computer Programming
Cándido Cabo · 2023
The purpose of this research-to-practice work-in-progress paper is to identify students' early misconceptions in the use of variables and assignment operators in a first-year computer programming course using Python. About half of first-year students taking computer programming courses have difficulty understanding the use of variables and the assignment operator. The majority of those students will not make adequate progress to learning advanced control flow structures like selection, repetition or the use of functions. To correct early misconceptions and make adequate progress in learning computer programming students should be able to: 1) translate a word problem into input/output requirements; 2) recognize the correct syntax of statements using variables and the assignment operator; 3) develop mental models of how the assignment operator works; 4) identify and interpret data types; 5) evaluate arithmetic expressions. We expect that early focus on achieving those learning objectives will prevent or correct early misconceptions and facilitate progress in learning computer programming.