Abstract:

Often achieving success or failure at the beginning of the introductory programming course determines whether the student will continue to track content related to computer science. Despite numerous studies, it is still not entirely clear why some students of introductory programming courses learn to program faster and better than others, and why, for some, programming is funny while others see it as arduous struggle in an effort to pass one course. In an effort to discover the factors that influence the achievement of success in introductory programming course, a growing number of researchers are studying the importance of students creating consistent mental models of fundamental programming concepts. This paper aims to give an overview of the relevant literature that examines the impact of novice programmer creating consistent mental model to his learning programming in general, lists the advantages and disadvantages of the application of certain teaching sequences with respect to the cognitive load, suggests some methods of work, emphasizes the importance of student's high self-efficacy for knowledge adoption and transfer. Compares the effectiveness of individual tools, visual or Command Line, which aims to assist students in creating consistent mental models in learning programming and understanding how computer program really works.

Keywords:

Mental models, novices, teaching programming, notional machine.