How Can Instructors Improve Programming Learning for Students?

Teaching programming is rarely just about explaining syntax.

A student may understand a concept during a lecture and still struggle when asked to apply it on their own. The concept made sense while the instructor was explaining it. The blank editor is a different story.

So improving programming learning means looking beyond what is taught and asking how students actually experience the learning process.

Give Students Opportunities to Code

Programming cannot be learned by watching someone else write code.

One instructor at Khalifa University took this idea further than most. In a 2025 study published in IEEE Access, he removed lectures entirely from one section of a programming course and replaced them with hands-on activities. He argues that “just-in-time hands-on experience is essential for learning programming" because it reinforces concepts immediately and encourages students to explore new ones.

The results were striking. Of the 41 students in that section, 88% preferred the lecture-free approach, and they scored 14.2% higher on the same exam than 111 peers taught traditionally that semester.

Not every course needs to drop lectures. But the lesson is clear: students need to work with a concept soon after they meet it. An instructor might introduce a concept, assign a small coding task, let students test their understanding, and then move gradually toward more independent problems.

Build Assignments Around Learning Objectives

Another important question is what students are actually being asked to demonstrate.

A programming assignment should connect to the learning objective rather than simply give students another problem to complete.

Creating those assignments, with test cases, rubrics, and clear instructions for each one, takes considerable time. That time is worth protecting for the part that matters most: deciding what students should actually learn from the task.

Make Feedback Part of the Learning Process

Getting an answer wrong is not necessarily the problem. Not knowing why it is wrong can be.

The same Khalifa University study names the practical obstacle: coordinating explanations, coding activities, and timely feedback is “impractical for large or medium-sized classes” when everything depends on the instructor alone.

This is where test cases and automated evaluation become useful learning tools rather than simply grading mechanisms. They can tell a student quickly where their code fails, while the instructor focuses on the reasoning behind the mistake.

Gradually Reduce the Support

Students need guidance, but they also need opportunities to become independent.

Moving directly from a lecture to a complex programming assignment can create a large gap between understanding an example and solving a problem alone. A more useful progression might be:

Understand → Practice → Apply → Test → Improve → Work independently

The instructor can provide more structure at the beginning and reduce it as students become more capable. That keeps the learning challenging without making every new assignment feel like starting from zero.

Don’t Let Grading Consume the Teaching Time

There is another problem behind effective programming learning: instructor workload.

A 2025 survey of 44 computer science instructors, presented at SIGCSE, found that auto-grading is spreading because of “the need to handle growing class sizes and provide timely and effective feedback.” Instructors said they want tools that are customizable and integrate well with the rest of their teaching.

The goal, therefore, should not simply be automating grading. It should be reducing repetitive work while preserving the instructor’s role in understanding student progress and giving meaningful guidance.

Where Lab.Computer Fits

Lab.Computer brings assignment creation, coding activities, automated evaluation, manual review, and feedback into one teaching workflow.

Students work in browser-based online coding labs, so they can start coding during class without setup problems. Instructors can use the AI Assignment Generator to start with a learning objective, topic, difficulty level, and language, then generate a problem with test cases, rubrics, starter code, and instructions.

Submissions can be evaluated automatically against test cases, while instructors keep control over manual review and feedback. For institutions using an LMS, Lab.Computer’s LTI integration supports single sign-on and sends grades straight to the LMS gradebook.

Better Programming Learning Is a Connected Process

Improving programming learning does not depend on one teaching technique. It depends on connecting the different parts of the experience:

Explain → Practice → Apply → Test → Receive feedback → Improve → Become independent

When those stages work together, assignments become more than assessments. They become opportunities for students to understand where they went wrong, improve their approach, and gradually solve problems with less support.

For instructors, the challenge is creating that experience consistently without letting repetitive work take over the time that should be spent teaching.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes programming learning effective?

Effective programming learning combines conceptual understanding with hands-on practice, problem-solving, testing, feedback, and opportunities to improve. Students need to use concepts rather than only listen to explanations.

How can instructors give programming students better feedback?

Instructors can combine automated test-based feedback with their own review. Automated evaluation can identify common issues quickly, while instructor feedback addresses reasoning and misconceptions.

How can instructors manage programming assignments for large classes?

Structured assignments, test cases, automated evaluation, and reusable workflows can reduce repetitive grading while keeping instructors involved in evaluation and feedback.

Can programming learning be integrated with an existing LMS?

Yes. Lab.Computer supports LTI integration with LMS platforms, allowing institutions to connect coding activities with existing courses and sync grades automatically.