Teaching Computer Programming: A Connectionist View of Pedagogical Change

Abstract

One of the major issues of teaching computer programming is concerned with determining pedagogical factors that contribute to students' learning and instructional improvement. Classroom teachers are the keys to making learning happen as well as improving teaching in schools. Teachers' perspectives on teaching affect how teachers perceive the nature of the subject, the problems of instruction and how they adopt solutions or ways to improve instruction. Teachers' views of knowledge have great impact on teachers' perspectives and their pedagogical practices. Over the years, two predominant computational theories of mind have emerged from the study of artificial intelligence, namely, the symbolic and the connectionist models. In this article, I argue, based on a qualitative study of 12 computer studies teachers in Hong Kong, that the connectionist view provides an alternative way of thinking about understanding and knowledge which leads to better insight on teaching and facilitates pedagogical change.