Programming, disciplines and methods adopted at Liverpool Hope University

The ability to problem solve is one of the key skills that a computing student requires in order to learn to program. Although students recruited to the more technically challenging Computer Science degree will have higher mathematical skills at secondary level, students recruited to the Information Technology degree usually have considerably less mathematical ability. This paper reflects upon the fundamental techniques that Liverpool Hope University has adopted to assist in the learning of programming for entry level students on an undergraduate level degree in Computer Science and Information Technology. It examines the key principles of design, development and practice and how the teaching incorporates these principles into the first year courses. It presents a set of strategies developed at Liverpool Hope University over several years which have been successful in promoting programming as an interesting and worthwhile discipline. The development of bespoke software and customised text books to guide teaching and learning is discussed, as is students’ response, via a questionnaire, to these methods of learning programming.