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Can Cognitive Science make it Easier for Novice Students to Learn to Code Functions?

When teaching students how to code in any computer programming course, it is common to use analogies to make it easier for students to relate to coding concepts. Yet many students are unable to apply the analogy to the concepts and relate it to the code. This is most pronounced when teaching students how to code functions. In this presentation, we will talk about the cognitive reasons analogies are prone to failure and discuss the psychological barrier of functional fixedness. We will suggest ways to get past these cognitive issues when teaching students how to code functions.