Introductory Programming

* 1. Introduction
My name is Dr. Brett Becker and I am an Assistant Professor at the School of Computer Science at University College Dublin. I am conducting research into introductory programming modules at third-level institutions in Ireland. I am interested in modules at Universities, Institutes of Technology as well as private colleges. I can be reached at brett.becker@ucd.ie. You can find out more about me at www.brettbecker.com.

This survey is motivated by surveys already undertaken in Australia and New Zealand (http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2667507) and the UK (https://repository.cardiffmet.ac.uk/handle/10369/8417) over the past number of years. The questions in this survey closely follow the questions in the latest UK and Australasian surveys to allow us to compare trends in Ireland to those in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. I am very grateful to Ellen Murphy and James Davenport of the University of Bath who generously provided us with their survey questions.

This study is designed to determine what languages, tools, and paradigms are in use in Irish introductory programming modules and the reasons for these choices. It is hoped that this survey will be taken on a regular basis so that a clearer picture of trends in this area can be created to help those involved in teaching introductory programming. 

If you are an introductory programming lecturer I would very much appreciate you completing this survey and I would also appreciate if you could share this link with others at your institution (or elsewhere in Ireland) that teach introductory programming.

If you are not a lecturer on an introductory programming module please do not complete this survey. However, I would greatly appreciate it if you could pass this link on to those in your institution (or elsewhere in Ireland) that teach introductory programming.

Procedures
Your participation in this study is sought to provide information about your module and the teaching of the first introductory programming unit in this module. This will involve this online survey which will take approximately 15 minutes.

Should you choose to participate, your answers with those from other academics will create a clearer picture of trends in this area to help those involved in teaching, and the students in learning.

Things you should know, should you choose to participate:

• The results of this study are not intended for commercial benefit;
• The findings of this survey may be published in summary form;
• Your individual responses to questions will not be identifiable. All data will be anonymised and kept in password-protected files so that it will remain secure, private and confidential;
• No adverse results of the study are expected to be experienced by you;
• The study poses no foreseeable risk to you over and above the normal risks of everyday life, computer and internet use;
• You may withdraw from the study at any time;
• A summary of the findings of the study will be made available to you on completion of the study.

Questions about the Research
You can make further enquiries about this research or submit concerns by contacting me at brett.becker@ucd.ie. 

As this survey was adopted from other surveys done abroad, for the rest of the questions, the terminology "course" is used for one of the many the basic units of study that are completed by students towards completing a programme or degree. A course is usually studied over the period of a semester or term, in conjunction with other units of study. In Ireland, this is often called a "module".

Please note that it would be best if the survey was completed on a per-module basis, so if you are teaching multiple (different) modules, or your institution offers different modules taught by different lecturers, it would be