Hybrid content delivery and learning styles in a computer programming course

An experimental course design was implemented in a senior-level computer programming course at Purdue University. The course used hybrid content delivery, including online lectures and interactive problem-solving laboratory sessions. This hybrid design is a follow-on to previous hardware courses implementing a similar design with ¿directed problem solving¿ laboratories. This paper describes the course and its three major components: online lectures, interactive laboratories, and online discussions, along with students' responses to the effectiveness of various aspects of the course on their learning. Students' learning style preferences are compared with their achievement as reflected in five programming assignments. The programming assignments provide hands-on, practical experience for students. Each assignment consists of the development of a game in either C++ or Java. This paper suggests that the hybrid format is an effective way of learning for all students and provides an instructional environment conducive to varying learning styles. There is no strong indication that one style can outperform peers in this programming class.