codeFL: Coding as a Foreign Language
Building a community of practice for coding education beyond computer science
Computer programming has become an increasingly important skill across higher education. Students in disciplines ranging from the life sciences and chemistry to geography, physics, and the social sciences are increasingly expected to work with data, computational tools, and digital methods as part of their studies and future careers.
Yet for many students, learning to code can feel like learning a new language. It involves unfamiliar ways of thinking, new forms of problem solving, and a vocabulary that may be entirely outside their previous educational experience. The challenge is particularly significant for students whose primary identity is not as a programmer, but as a scientist, researcher, healthcare professional, analyst, or scholar in another field.
codeFL stands for Coding as a Foreign Language, recognising that for many students programming is learned much like a new language: developing unfamiliar ways of thinking, communicating, and solving problems beyond the boundaries of their home discipline.
codeFL is a Circle U. initiative exploring how coding is taught, learned, and supported across disciplinary boundaries. The project brings together educators who share a common interest in helping non-specialist students develop confidence, capability, and independence in programming.
Why does this matter?
As coding has spread across university curricula, many educators have found themselves teaching programming within disciplinary contexts that are very different from traditional computer science programmes. While the subjects may differ, many of the educational challenges are shared. Educators often work independently, adapting materials and developing teaching approaches without the benefit of a wider community focused on similar questions.
At the same time, rapid developments in technology are changing what it means to learn programming. The emergence of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) offers new opportunities to support learning, while also raising important questions about how students develop genuine understanding, computational thinking, and problem-solving skills. These changes invite educators to reflect not only on what is taught, but also on how coding is taught and learned.
Our Vision
codeFL is founded on the belief that educators across disciplines have much to learn from one another. By creating connections between teachers, researchers, and educational innovators, we hope to encourage conversations about effective, evidence-informed approaches to coding education that transcend disciplinary boundaries.
We envision a future in which students encounter programming not as an isolated technical skill, but as a powerful tool for inquiry, creativity, and problem solving within their chosen fields. We also believe that educators should have opportunities to share experiences, discuss challenges, and learn from emerging research in programming pedagogy.
The codeFL Community
The project brings together educators from across the Circle U. alliance, representing expertise from a diverse range of disciplines including life sciences, chemistry, geography, bioinformatics, physics, and computing education. This interdisciplinary perspective lies at the heart of the project and reflects the increasingly broad role of coding in contemporary education.
codeFL is supported through the Circle U. Seed Funding Scheme.