Novice programmers' perceptions of a self-questioning guideline to metacognitively scaffold programming problem-solving

Abstract

Introductory programming is a foundational course in computing and technical education, yet many novice programmers struggle to understand problems, plan solutions, monitor their coding process, debug errors, and evaluate completed programs. These difficulties are not only technical but also metacognitive, as students often lack structured strategies for regulating their thinking during programming tasks. Self-questioning has been proposed as a metacognitive scaffold that can guide learners through problem-solving; however, less is known about how novice programmers perceive the usability and practicality of such a guideline after using it in programming tasks. This article reports the qualitative findings of a post-intervention survey administered to treatment-group students who used a self-questioning guideline during introductory programming tasks. The study addressed one research question: How do novice programmers perceive and experience the usability and practicality of the self-questioning guideline during programming tasks? A total of 41 survey responses were analysed thematically. The survey examined students’ experiences of using the guideline, its useful and difficult parts, its perceived effects before, during, and after coding, its influence on awareness and confidence, its transferability beyond the study, and possible improvements. Findings show that students generally perceived the guideline as practical, usable, and helpful for structuring their thinking. Reported benefits included pre-coding planning, requirement analysis, metacognitive monitoring during coding, systematic debugging, post-task checking, and confidence-building. However, some students found particular programming constructs difficult, experienced higher-order prompts as overwhelming, reported limited change in their usual problem-solving approach, or suggested both more examples and a shorter format. The article concludes that the guideline was perceived as a useful metacognitive scaffold, but its practical value depends on careful phasing, examples, adaptive fading, and integration with foundational programming instruction.