Mar 04, 2020 19:00:00

'Language ability' and 'problem solving ability' are also important to study programming

With the widespread use of the Internet of Things (IoT) and advances in machine learning technology, learning the importance of programming has increased in recent years. However, some people may be worried from the image that 'learning programming requires mathematical knowledge' because they are not good at mathematics and may not be able to learn even if they learn programming now. A paper was published stating that 'higher linguistic and problem-solving skills are more advantageous than learning mathematical knowledge'.

Relating Natural Language Aptitude to Individual Differences in Learning Programming Languages | Scientific Reports
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-60661-8

Study reveals you don't have to be a math expert to become a coder-tech-Hindustan Times
https://www.hindustantimes.com/tech/study-reveals-you-don-t-have-to-be-a-math-expert-to-become-a-coder/story-0Rpo4mgrDnkUaOwAc8fhUJ.html

The research team thought, 'Isn't the importance of computation overestimated in the modern programming education environment', 'Is high natural language learning ability likely to affect programming learning', A test was conducted to measure the math, language and problem solving skills of 36 young people aged 18 to 35 who had no programming experience.

In addition, the research team has trained subjects to take Python online courses on the online learning platform Codecademy . The team chose Python from a number of programming languages, saying the research team states that 'Python's development philosophy is aimed at readability and its writing style is relatively close to English.'

The subject was forced to report `` How did you ask for help when you do not know '' so that the subject did not proceed with the course unnecessarily, the research team shared the subject's PC screen and checked this report . The subject's learning ability in Python was evaluated on three levels: 'learning rate calculated from lecture data', 'accuracy of programming based on code created after learning', and 'test on knowledge about Python'.

As a result, there were significant individual differences among subjects in the results of Python learning. The research team said that there was a positive correlation between learning rate, programming accuracy, and knowledge accuracy, and argued that `` one who completed the course earlier did not sacrifice learning accuracy ''. I am.

The researchers also reported that subjects who had taken the programming language faster and more accurately tended to have better language and problem solving skills based on the results of tests and brain waves measured by subjects in advance. doing. Based on these results, the research team acknowledged that mathematical knowledge and abilities, such as computational skills, were also important for understanding programming, but argued that mathematical skills alone were not required for learning programming.

According to the research team, `` The fundamentals of programming learning are the same as natural language learning in that meaning is created by connecting symbols based on certain rules '', and `` Test results of language ability and problem solving ability are also Can be one of the factors that can predict an individual's learning rate in Python learning. ' He also says that he will continue research on learning 'non-user-friendly languages' such as Java, which is often used in software engineering.

Chantel Pratt, a psychologist at the University of Washington at Seattle and a lead author of the dissertation, said, `` Programming is difficult to learn, but it is one of the skills that is becoming increasingly important for promotion at work. 'The idea that 'programming depends heavily on the power of mathematics' is not based on data,' he commented.