Conditions for successful learning of programming skills

Abstract : First programming courses often fail to motivate students to continue their software studies. Students find it hard to acquire the logic of computer programming. Especially students in multicultural, heterogeneous student groups are unable to apply logical thinking consistently or to follow instructions in a systematic fashion. Transfer of thinking skills from mathematics to programming does not take place as expected. Efforts to describe the thinking process in program authoring have failed, and process of problem solving in program design remains as evasive as heuristic processes in general. Evidently, it is based on accumulated expert knowledge that is not easily describable. Programming is an independent domain of expert knowledge that requires systematic practice and self-monitoring in construction of appropriate mental patterns.