Tutors' Experiences in Using Explicit Strategies in a Problem-Based Learning Introductory Programming Course

In programming education, explicit strategies are gaining traction. The reason for this study was to improve an introductory programming course based on a problem-based methodology, by using more explicit programming strategies. After analysing a previous run of this course for first year undergraduate students, we concluded that such strategies could improve learning transfer for students across the different weeks of the semester. We introduced four instructional strategies to tutors with close to no pedagogical background: explicit tracing, subgoal labeled worked examples, Parsons problems and explicit problem solving. These explicit programming strategies aim to decrease cognitive load. Tutors tested these four strategies in the course. Our goal was to explore how tutors could benefit in their tutoring from explicit strategies. Interviews with the tutors show that the easiest and most effective of the tested strategies were best used. For the more elaborate strategies, more time should be devoted to explain and model them or they can be misunderstood and misapplied. We conclude that four criteria are key to successfully using an explicit strategy: easy to understand, straightforward to apply, useful on the long term and supported by literature.