Addressing cognitive load in the computer science classroom

It with is difficult either to little teach prior computer knowledge programming of programming to students or weak problem-solving skills. Often, teachers will introduce a new programming construct, illustrate its use in abstract situations, and then expect students to demonstrate mastery given a “real-world” solution. This article addresses several techniques that impact the issue of reducing cognitive load on novice programming students, including the use of worked examples, pair programming, and live-coded modeling. The paper builds a case for utilizing these pedagogical approaches in the K-12 classroom based on prior research on reducing cognitive load for introductory programming students. ©2019 ACM