A Pedagogical Method of Teaching Nested Loops in Introductory Programming Courses

Programming pedagogy deals with methods and principles of teaching and learning computer programming. Teaching nested loops in introductory programming courses (IPCs) is a complex task because it represents the first exposure of beginners to programming logic. To increase significantly students’ comprehension of loops, we introduce a pedagogical method of teaching nested loops. The research was designed as experimental study with posttest experimental and control groups model involving university students. While the experimental group was subjected to the pedagogical method, the traditional method was applied in the control group. To collect the research data, achievement posttest and a questionnaire were developed and applied. The research findings showed clearly the effectiveness of teaching loops by using the pedagogical method. Its advantage over the traditional method was especially reflected at teaching multiple nested loops because their explanation by using the pedagogical method significantly increased the level of logical understanding of this operation which is difficult to comprehend by beginners in programming.