How, when, and why do novices struggle in programming? Exploring the experiences and perceptions of common programming moments in block-based environments

Positive student self-efficacy has been linked to undergraduate computer science students’ improved retention rates and success in the major, with self-efficacy in programming being particularly important. To improve poor self-efficacy in programming, especially for novices, we must understand the moments that affect students’ self-perceived programming ability. Although these moments have been identified in text-based programming environments, they have not been studied for relevance in block-based programming environments. This study, based on a modified replication of Gorson and O’Rourke’s 2020 survey concerning the self-efficacy of introductory computer science students, sought to discover what negative and positive self-assessment moments CS students learning in a block-based environment encountered and how they perceived them. Over the course of two class sessions, students in an introductory, non-major CS course worked on a final project in a pair-programming environment. At the end of each class, students were prompted to take a brief survey about their programming experience that day - how satisfied they were with their progress, how they expected they would do, which struggle and success moments they experienced, and whether they felt these moments happened more frequently to them than to other students in the course. We hypothesized that students who felt that they had challenging moments more often than other students, or whose experiences did not meet their own expectations, would have more negative experiences. Struggle moments across the board were found to be relatively uncommon, with students often rating themselves as struggling and succeeding similarly to their peers. Results suggest that block-based programming environments may help mitigate some of the pitfalls of traditional introductory programmin