What Did CS Students Recognize as Study Difficulties?

Computing education research shows substantive interest in novice programming challenges. The present study was rather interested in any phenomena that students would recognize as difficulties during their university studies. The research question was what computing students recognized as their study difficulties after the first year of study. An inductive thematic analysis was applied to the students’ personal writing of the difficulties experienced. The main result categories were independence in new environment, academic requirements, lack of prospects, learning to work, and social integration, which were illustrated by multiple lower level themes. The results inform educators of the wide range of aspects that can underlie complicated studying and help in designing intervention methodology.