How do they understand? Practitioner perceptions of an object-oriented program : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education (Computer Science) at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

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dc.contributor.authorThompson, Errol Lindsay
dc.date.accessioned2009-05-19T02:41:00Z
dc.date.availableNO_RESTRICTIONen_US
dc.date.available2009-05-19T02:41:00Z
dc.date.issued2008
dc.description.abstractIn the computer science community, there is considerable debate about the appropriate sequence for introducing object-oriented concepts to novice programmers. Research into novice programming has struggled to identify the critical aspects that would provide a consistently successful approach to teaching introductory object-oriented programming. Starting from the premise that the conceptions of a task determine the type of output from the task, assisting novice programmers to become aware of what the required output should be, may lay a foundation for improving learning. This study adopted a phenomenographic approach. Thirty one practitioners were interviewed about the ways in which they experience object-oriented programming and categories of description and critical aspects were identified. These critical aspects were then used to examine the spaces of learning provided in twenty introductory textbooks. The study uncovered critical aspects that related to the way that practitioners expressed their understanding of an object-oriented program and the influences on their approach to designing programs. The study of the textbooks revealed a large variability in the cover of these critical aspects.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10179/854
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMassey Universityen_US
dc.rightsThe Authoren_US
dc.subjectNovice programmersen_US
dc.subjectTeachingen_US
dc.subject.otherFields of Research::280000 Information, Computing and Communication Sciences::280300 Computer Software::280301 Programming techniquesen_US
dc.titleHow do they understand? Practitioner perceptions of an object-oriented program : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education (Computer Science) at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealanden_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
massey.contributor.authorThompson, Errol Lindsay
thesis.degree.disciplineEducation (Computer Science)en_US
thesis.degree.grantorMassey Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)en_US
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