Systematic Mapping of Introductory Programming Teaching in Technical and Higher Education in Brazil

Abstract

Challenges in teaching programming to beginners affect both teachers and students. High dropout and failure rates above 30%, scalability barriers, difficulties in personalizing teaching, among others, have motivated numerous studies in introductory programming disciplines over the years. The aim of this article is to promote a better understanding of the teaching-learning challenges in introductory programming classes at technical high school and higher education levels by means of a systematic mapping of Brazilian literature between 2016 and 2020, having as a cut articles published in national events and journals. The results indicate that more than 80% of the publications originate from public institutions, especially from the northeastern and the southern regions, and that there was a significant increase in proposals aimed at hybrid and also distance education. Besides, the results show a predominance of proposals aimed at increasing student engagement and motivation. On the other hand, studies focusing on former students, underrepresentation of female students or gender, social or racial differences are still scarce. Regarding teachers, the predominant literature found was centered on the production and improvement of automated assessment tools. Nonetheless, there were still problems regarding the distribution and large-scale adoption of the tools.