Effects of Pascal and FORTRAN Programming on the Problem-Solving Abilities of College Students

The major purposes of this study were: (a) to determine if learning to program a computer in either Pascal or FORTRAN improves the problem-solving skills of students when compared to a control group and (b) to determine if learning to program a computer in Pascal is more effective than learning to p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of research on computing in education Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 290 - 302
Main Authors Choi, Won Sik, Repman, Judi
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 01.03.1993
Subjects
Analysis of Variance
Comparative Analysis
Computer Assisted Instruction
FORTRAN
FORTRAN Programing Language
Higher Education
Instructional Effectiveness
Pascal
PASCAL Programing Language
Pretests Posttests
Problem Solving
Programing
Programing Languages
Skill Development
Tables (Data)
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ISSN0888-6504
DOI10.1080/08886504.1993.10782052

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Summary:The major purposes of this study were: (a) to determine if learning to program a computer in either Pascal or FORTRAN improves the problem-solving skills of students when compared to a control group and (b) to determine if learning to program a computer in Pascal is more effective than learning to program a computer in FORTRAN in the development of problem-solving abilities. Subjects were 58 college students enrolled in 15-week Pascal and FORTRAN computer programming classes. A 61-item problem-solving instrument was used as the pretest and posttest measure. Results indicated that learning to program in Pascal or FORTRAN does significantly improve problem-solving abilities of college level students, as measured by the instrument used, when compared to a group that receives no programming instruction. However, there was no significant difference in problem-solving ability between the Pascal group and the FORTRAN group.
ISSN:0888-6504
DOI:10.1080/08886504.1993.10782052