Investigation and analysis of the current situation of programming education in primary and secondary schools

Qizhong Ou; Weijie Liang; Zhenni He; Xiao Liu; Renxing Yang; Xiaojun Wu

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15530

Investigation and analysis of the current situation of programming education in primary and secondary schools

Heliyon. 2023 Apr 18;9(4):e15530. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15530. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Authors

Qizhong Ou¹, Weijie Liang¹, Zhenni He¹, Xiao Liu¹, Renxing Yang¹, Xiaojun Wu¹

Affiliation

¹ Nanning Normal University, School of Computer and Information Engineering, China.

Abstract

With the rapid development of the era of artificial intelligence, the application ability of programming is also highlighted. As one of the necessary abilities of social talents in the future, primary and secondary schools pay more and more attention to this, and programming education is also in full swing. Therefore, based on previous studies, this paper further clarifies the current situation when the current situation of programming education in primary and secondary schools is ambiguous. This paper is aimed at a wide range of primary and secondary school teachers. With 1500 teachers who participated in the online training class for programming teachers as the object in Chinese primary, middle and high school stages, mainly from the three levels of schools, teachers, and students. The questionnaire with good reliability and validity test was used as the research method, the survey data were statistically described and analyzed, and differences were analyzed using Microsoft Excel2019, SPSS26.0 and so on, it investigates and analyzes the current situation of programming education in primary and secondary schools. Results indicate that the overall quality of programming education offerings in elementary and secondary schools is subpar, and the construction of programming education curriculum in schools requires improvement. Nevertheless, schools prioritize improving students' comprehensive abilities, and teachers hold a positive attitude towards programming education and teaching. Although students demonstrate a strong interest in learning, their foundation is weak, resulting in poor learning outcomes. Consequently, the author provides specific recommendations regarding programming education's working mechanism, curriculum standard system, teacher training, and educational resources sharing to better develop programming education in primary and secondary schools.

Keywords: Investigation and current situation; Primary and secondary education; Programming education for students; Programming education in primary and secondary schools; Programming learning.