Investigating the relationship between the development of abstract reasoning and performance in an introductory programming class

A test of formal (or abstract) reasoning abilities was given to students in an introductory programming course. Based on these results, students were classified at three intellectual development (ID) levels: late concrete, early formal, and late formal. Performance in various aspects of the course was analyzed by these three ID levels. It was found that: (1) ID level did not vary with sex, class level, and previous coursework; (2) the levels of late concrete and late formal are strong predictors of poor and outstanding performance, respectively; and (3) the ID level predicts performance on tests better than performance on programs.