Enhancing academic achievement in an introductory computer programming course through the implementation of guided inquiry-based learning and teaching

Statistical data analysis shows that there is a significant difference between the students that were engaged using GIL and those taught using the traditional approach, in that the performance of the experimental group was far better than those in the control group. The final achievement result for the experimental group was almost 90% compared to the control group's pass rate of less than 52%. Achievement results obtained by the experimental group was much higher than both the global and South African average achievement rates of 67.7% and 55%, respectively, as reported by Watson and Li (2014) for an Introductory Programming course. It was evident that the overall performance also improved as indicated by the final pass rate of almost 67% for both groups (combined), which is higher than the average pass rate of other previous years (46.88%). This should be attributed to the high pass rates achieved by the experimental group which raised the average percentage. These findings are corroborated through the following themes which emerged from the focus groups interviews:

• Group sessions helped understand the subject content better

• Group session experience assisted students while doing their homework alone

• Students appreciated alternative problem solving approaches

• The social networking platform facilitates GIL sessions (out of the classroom)

As evident through the themes listed above, students overwhelmingly agreed that the GIL approach to teaching the Introductory Programming course assisted them in understanding the underlying theories and principles of the course and improved their problem solving skills.