A Study of Loop Style and Abstraction in Pedagogic Practice

Barnes, D. J. and Shinners-Kennedy, D.

This paper describes the results of a study into the use of structure and abstraction in the programming styles of lecturers and teaching assistants involved in teaching programming to students attending university and other third-level institutions. The study was motivated by the hypothesis that the trend towards object-orientation is being matched by pedagogic materials that consistently foster the deployment of abstraction and structure in the solution of programming problems. Unfortunately the evidence does not support the hypothesis. We conclude that the persistent use of abstraction at all levels of implementation is necessary to perfect expertise in its application and secure the benefits of the object-oriented paradigm.

Cite as: Barnes, D. J. and Shinners-Kennedy, D. (2011). A Study of Loop Style and Abstraction in Pedagogic Practice. In Proc. Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2011) Perth, Australia. CRPIT, 114. John Hamer and Michael de Raadt Eds., ACS. 29-36

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