Surveying teachers’ conception of programming as a mathematics topic following the implementation of a new mathematics curriculum

In this paper, we investigate mathematics teachers’ conception of the relationship between mathematics and programming. The context of the investigation is a recent curriculum reform in Sweden that makes programming a compulsory element of the national mathematics standards. Following up on an in-service training initiative, we conducted a pilot survey (N = 133) exploring – among other things – the teachers’ conception of the relationship between mathematics and programming. The results suggest that the teachers, on average, feel that there is a strong, but not very strong, relationship between the two subjects. Furthermore, the results suggest that mathematics teachers are interested in working with programming but that they do not feel well prepared for taking on that task. These results are used to discuss the mathematical potential of the different ways in which compulsory programming can be introduced in schools.