Failure rates in introductory programming revisited
Open accessAbstract
Whilst working on an upcoming meta-analysis that synthesized fifty years of research on predictors of programming performance, we made an interesting discovery. Despite several studies citing a motivation for research as the high failure rates of introductory programming courses, to date, the majority of available evidence on this phenomenon is at best anecdotal in nature, and only a single study by Bennedsen and Caspersen has attempted to determine a worldwide pass rate of introductory programming courses.
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Programming anxiety leads to decreased performance and, in severe cases, higher dropout rates in computer science programs.
“The impact of programming anxiety on learning outcomes is substantial, leading to decreased performance and, in severe cases, contributing to higher dropout rates in computer science programs (Watson & Li, 2014).”
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“The impact of programming anxiety on learning outcomes is substantial, leading to decreased performance and, in severe cases, contributing to higher drop-out rates in computer science programs (Watson & Li, 2014).”
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- Authors
- Watson, C., & Li, F. W. B.
- Affiliations
- Durham University (GB)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the 2014 conference on Innovation & technology in computer science education - ITiCSE '14
- Publisher
- ACM Press
- Published
- 2014
- Pages
- 39-44
- OpenAlex
- W2067438752
- Cited by
- 639
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 59 · 2022: 54 · 2021: 81 · 2020: 69 · 2019: 114 · 2018: 60 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 39 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 4
- FWCI
- 21.58
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Locations
- ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE) (publishedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Science Applications › Teaching and Learning Programming
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Statistics and Probability › Statistics Education and Methodologies
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Information Systems Education and Curriculum Development
- Keywords
- introductory programming, pass rates, meta-analysis, computer science education, student motivation
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