The Way for Learning Initial Programming: Activities, Feedback, and Predict Model

Teaching programming is a special area with very particular characteristics and demands. It requires hard work and commitment from all those involved in teaching and learning. The teacher must plan, organize, and create the necessary resources so that students can acquire the skills required for the course objectives. Students must be actively involved in the learning process and acquire the necessary competencies in the area. Programming students are also required to have skills such as problem solving, abstraction, persistence, and commitment. Consequently, there are high failure and dropout rates among students. The work presented aims to present a set of strategies to minimize this problem. Basing the strategy on a wide range of activities of different types with immediate feedback according to the students’ needs and interests. The results are used to evaluate the students’ progress and to take immediate action in case of need. The results are also used in a machine learning prediction system for student failure. The whole process is managed by a technological tool, called HTProgramming, allowing all the stakeholders a practical and effective interaction of the teaching and learning process. The results obtained from the application of our strategy indicate significant improvements for the approved students.