The use of active learning techniques in computer science instruction

Abstract

Computer Science (CS) introductory courses seem to abound in non-motivated students. They are characterized by high failure and withdrawal rates and use mainly deductive instruction. Deductive instruction begins with theories and progresses to applications of those theories. Active learning techniques are more inductive. Inductive instruction begins with the presentation of, for instance, a specific problem that introduces a topic, and theories are studied on a need-to-know basis. This pilot study portrays the changes in a CS introductory course from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered approach, using two different editions of the course. The results in terms of success, failure, and dropout are given and the impact of a more student-centered approach on student involvement in learning is analyzed. The author discusses implications of student-centered learning for the classroom and pays attention to some of the drawbacks of an implementation more focused on active learning.