BRIDGING THE THEORY-PRACTICE GAP: EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF APPLICATION-BASED TEACHING METHODS ON STUDENT OUTCOMES IN INTRODUCTORY PROGRAMMING

In the new digital classroom era, teachers explain the contextual concepts through
traditional standard examples, such as whether a given number is even or odd, the sum of 2
numbers, etc. These explanations do not bridge the gap between context and the real-world
applications. Minimizing the gap between the context and real-world problem solving is done
by explaining the concepts, such as OTP checking and wrong password attempts. This study
has investigated the effectiveness of application-based teaching methods in comparison with
the traditional, syntax-centric method in an introductory programming course. A quasiexperimental study was conducted with two groups of 90 first-year computer applications
students. Traditional lectures and textbook exercises were taught to a set of 45 control group
students, and an application-based curriculum featuring real-world scenarios was taught to the
rest of the 45 experimental group students. Application-based teaching methods were found to
significantly improve practical coding skills, student engagement, and retention in introductory
programming. The findings advocate for a pedagogical shift from a syntax-centric approach to
a problem-centric approach in introductory programming.
Keywords: Introductory Programming, Pedagogy, Studen