A content analysis of programming examples in high school computer textbooks in Taiwan

Abstract

In this study we examined 16 high school computer textbooks used in Taiwan with an attempt to analyze the nature and the presentation styles of programming examples in them. The presentation styles were differentiated based on the presence or absence of four major problem-solving steps: problem analysis, solution planning, coding, and testing/debugging. Our findings revealed that presentation of programming examples in most of the analyzed textbooks lacked detailed explanation of some of the problem-solving steps, especially problem analysis and testing/debugging. With respect to the nature of the problems solved by the programming examples, most fell into one of the following four categories: math problems, graphics problems, syntax problems, and real-life problems.