"Even Though I Went Through Everything, I Didn't Feel Like I Learned a Lot": Insights From Experiences of Non-Computer Science Students Learning to Code

Programming education is increasingly seen as an important curricular component of non-Computer Science (CS) disciplines at the undergraduate level. While existing research has studied non-CS majors’ experiences in introductory programming courses, there is limited work that explores such experiences across universities and disciplines. To address this gap, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 non-CS major programming students across several majors and universities and interpreted the results through reflexive thematic analysis. Our findings suggest that while students are excited about and interested in learning programming, they face barriers that often arise from the design of the courses they take and a lack of targeted resources and tools to support them. Building on our findings, we conclude with a set of recommendations for the design of tools, artifacts, and courses that can support programming education for non-major students.