Effectively Matching Programming Languages to Computer Science Introductory Teaching Paradigms Research

The reach of technology stretches across a wide variety of domains: from the health industry to entertainment and gaming. Software programming undoubtedly plays a major role in modern technology. Therefore, computer science and programming education is of the utmost importance. In our research, we aim to ask questions such as: “What are the best approaches that can be used to introduce programming to students and others wishing to learn to program?” and “What languages can be said to best fit these approaches?” Indeed, there are numerous approaches to teaching programming and lots of existing research regarding these approaches. There are also numerous programming languages used to teach introductory programming: Java, Scratch, and Python - just to name a few. There are also numerous types of audiences that attempt to learn programming: primary school students, high school students, college students, and working professionals. In this research paper, we will highlight various methods that can be used to teach programming, and how those approaches can best be matched to different programming languages and audiences. We will build upon existing research to reach conclusions, and we will also conduct our own survey that will involve computer science students, computer science teachers, and software development professionals. Our primary aim is not to promote a certain approach or to promote a particular programming language. Rather, we hope to find correlations and provide recommendations regarding which languages are most suitable for different approaches and audiences. Keywords: Computer Science Education, Introduction to Programming, CS