Any “scientific” approaches to teaching programming, but not for kids?

Anybody knows any good resources about "pedagogy" oriented to Programming/Engineering?

I've found a few resources, but they're all geared towards children.

My gut feeling tells me (and I think everybody agrees) that a good combination of theory (programming concepts and fundamentals), coupled with a lot of practice is the way to go (build your own projects, build your own games, build your own compiler, etc). But is there any research around it?

Thanks!

EDIT: the objective would be to maximize the student's efficiency in learning, reduce student attrition, and just provide a more engaging/delightful experience to students while ensuring the "creation" of well qualified engineers in the most efficient span of time.