Perception of Teachers who teach Computer Programming regarding Pedagogical Formation

Abstract

The courses in computing and informatics at different levels of education have, as one of their goals, empower students to program computers. However, the literature has shown that teachers, when teaching programming, have been less successful than they should and would need to have. In this sense, considering that at least part of the difficulties related to the teaching/learning process of programming may be related to pedagogical formation or the absence of it by teachers, this study aimed to investigate the perception of teachers regarding the pedagogical formation and the teaching/learning process of programming. To this end, an exploratory study of qualitative approach was developed, with teachers from computing, informatics, and the like, who taught some discipline related to programming in the last five years. Through the analysis of the collected data, it was observed that teachers with pedagogical formation participate more in activities directed to the exercise of teaching during graduation, as well as have a positive perception of the preparation provided by higher education to practice teaching when compared to teachers who do not have this formation. It was also verified when comparing the pedagogical practices, contents, resources and technologies, instruments and evaluative techniques, in addition to the learning attitudes and profile of students and classes to which they were exposed while they were students and that expose their students now as teachers, that the largest portion, both of teachers with the pedagogical formation and those without this formation, indicated that this series of elements are similar in many respects. Moreover, both groups of teachers consider it important to have a teaching practice based on learning theories and teaching/learning methodologies, considering that graduate studies contributed to their preparation for the teaching exercise.