Hacking the Non-Technical Brain: Maximizing Retention in a Core Introductory IT Course

Maximizing student retention of, and ability to apply, technical material in introductory information technology courses is a complex task, especially with respect to the general student population. This population struggles with the application of programming concepts in the time-constrained testing environment. Our study considers the implementation of daily quizzes in a core-curriculum information technology and programming course as a means to improve student concept retention and application. Between the first and second exams, the instructors implemented a series of high-frequency, no-risk quizzes. Of the four sections of the course that each instructor taught, two sections each were provided with the quizzes as the experimental group and two remained with the standard curriculum as the control. The results demonstrate the benefits of frequent, effortful recall on student performance in a core-curriculum information technology and programming course

Adaptive Scaffolding in Block-Based Programming via Synthesizing New Tasks as Pop Quizzes

Block-based programming environments are increasingly used to introduce computing concepts to beginners. However, novice students often struggle in these environments, given the conceptual and open-ended nature of programming tasks. To effectively support a student struggling to solve a given task, it is important to provide adaptive scaffolding that guides the student towards a solution. We introduce a scaffolding framework based on pop quizzes presented as multi-choice programming tasks. To automatically generate these pop quizzes, we propose a novel algorithm, PQuizSyn. More formally, given a reference task with a solution code and the student's current attempt, PQuizSyn synthesizes new tasks for pop quizzes with the following features: (a) Adaptive (i.e., individualized to the student's current attempt), (b) Comprehensible (i.e., easy to comprehend and solve), and (c) Concealing (i.e., do not reveal the solution code). Our algorithm synthesizes these tasks using techniques based on symbolic reasoning and graph-based code representations. We show that our algorithm can generate hundreds of pop quizzes for different student attempts on reference tasks from Hour of Code: Maze Challenge and Karel. We assess the quality of these pop quizzes through expert ratings using an evaluation rubric. Further, we have built an online platform for practicing block-based programming tasks empowered via pop quiz based feedback, and report results from an initial user study.Comment: Preprint. Accepted as a paper at the AIED'22 conferenc

Introductory programming: a systematic literature review

As computing becomes a mainstream discipline embedded in the school curriculum and acts as an enabler for an increasing range of academic disciplines in higher education, the literature on introductory programming is growing. Although there have been several reviews that focus on specific aspects of introductory programming, there has been no broad overview of the literature exploring recent trends across the breadth of introductory programming. This paper is the report of an ITiCSE working group that conducted a systematic review in order to gain an overview of the introductory programming literature. Partitioning the literature into papers addressing the student, teaching, the curriculum, and assessment, we explore trends, highlight advances in knowledge over the past 15 years, and indicate possible directions for future research