The Effects of a Social Constructivist Pedagogy on At-risk Students Completing a Computer Programming Course at a Post-secondary Institution
Abstract: Computer programming courses require unique skills. Unfortunately, many novice students at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa have not developed such skills in their formative years. Consequently, they find it difficult to acquire these skills at a post-secondary level, and they are often at risk of failing computer programming courses. Furthermore, traditional pedagogies often do not provide an opportunity for students to develop the skills needed to write programs. This paper aims to demonstrate that adopting an alternative pedagogy, based on social constructivism, can assist students in cultivating these skills. The pedagogy was applied only to students who were at risk of failing a computer programming course. The pedagogy encouraged a learner-centered environment, where active learning and student collaboration was promoted. The data clearly indicates that adopting such pedagogy improved these students computer programming skills.