A Survey on Online Learning Preferences for Computer Science and Programming

The increasing availability of online documentation is radically changing the way developers and computer science students learn various topics, and programming in particular. Nowadays, a plethora of online learning resources are available, ranging from online University courses and official programming manuals/documentation to video tutorials, screencasts, and discussions available on Question & Answer forums. With the aim of aiding researchers to better understand the usage, advantages, and limitations of this large amount of resources, this paper empirically investigates the learning preferences and needs of computer science students and professional developers related to the use of online resources for learning. We conducted a survey with 205 participants, having different degrees of formal instruction and professional experience in programming. The survey investigated the participants' learning preferences, information seeking behavior, preferred online resources, and learning needs. The study results reveal a preference for combined visual and auditory learning while indicating written tutorials and official documentation as two of the most popular resources currently used by developers and students. The study also indicates that, although online resources are considered valuable, there is a need for better support for searching and browsing this kind of resources.