Previous research studies on introductory programming courses in engineering
education in Portugal and Serbia have indicated that although high motivation
and high expectations seem to be reported by students, many students may fail
the course. This prompted a further inquiry into student attitudes, behavior,
and achievement, and it also led to the introduction of C Tutor, a widely
known program visualization tool, into courses in both countries. As a result,
in the present study, self‐reported student achievement (grades), self‐reported
student progress (knowledge improvement and confidence), and self‐reported
usage and helpfulness of C Tutor were investigated. Anonymous data about
students and their experience in the course, which also included the usage of C
Tutor, were collected in a survey in Portugal and Serbia. Quantitative methods,
including descriptive statistics, clustering, statistical testing of independence,
and partial correlation analysis, were applied in analyses of survey data. The
distribution of grades differed between the two countries, but overall attitudes
were similar. Various uncovered patterns involving student attitudes and usage
of C Tutor may serve as a starting point for new research studies.
