Interviews With College Students: Evaluating Computer Programming Environments For Introductory Courses

Abstract

Different methods, strategies, or tools have been proposed for teaching Object Oriented Programming (OOP). However, it is still difficult to introduce OOP to novice learners. The problem may be not only adopting a method or language, but also use of an appropriate integrated development environment (IDE). Therefore, the focus should be on the needs of learners when selecting an IDE and the evaluations for instructional purposes may allow making objective decisions for an introductory course design. There are different methods or frameworks for evaluating IDEs and the majority focuses on the experts’ needs. Unfortunately, studies done on instructional appropriateness of IDEs are insufficient. In this study, an evaluation framework is initially proposed, then the candidate IDEs are evaluated, and finally, the perceptions of college students are explored by conducting semi-structured interviews. The data are analyzed by the Verbal Analysis technique, and the results are discussed in view of the evaluation criteria. The results imply that the learners view one of the criteria relatively more supportive for learning.