"I hate programming" and Other Oscillating Emotions Experienced by Novice Students Learning Computer Programming
Abstract: Novice students’ experience strong emotions while learning to program. This is especially true when they are learning a threshold concept, as the action of crossing a threshold means walking through a “liminal space”. The liminal space is a transitional period where students experience oscillating emotions while trying to master a threshold concept. These emotions are rarely discussed in the field of computing and rarely mentioned in the literature associated with teaching-and-learning of computer programming. This paper describes such emotions and the paper reveals that there is no lack of emotional reactions while learning a threshold concept, program dynamics. As emotions are significantly related to motivation and motivation is strongly related to the success of the novice student, it may be useful for educators to understand students’ emotions so that they are not only communicators of information but also motivators. Furthermore, constructivist pedagogy may provide a nurturing environment, where students are able to express their emotions.
Presider: Jennifer Lock, University of Calgary