Factors Affecting the Adoption of Peer Instruction in Computing Courses

Peer Instruction (PI) as defined by Mazur, and variations on this pedagogic technique, have been in use in computing courses for about a decade. Despite dozens of educational research publications documenting positive learning effects, improved retention, student acceptance, and effectiveness for large classes; PI does not appear to be widely adopted for computing courses. This paper reports on a three-way investigation into this apparent contradiction. First, the authors reflect on their own adoption, practice, experience, and abandonment of the use of PI in computing courses. Second, we surveyed the literature regarding the use of PI in computing courses and present a summary of the research findings, variations, and extensions to PI used in computing courses. Third, a survey of computing instructors was conducted to gauge the attitude toward PI in computing courses. To add context, this report considers publications documenting usage of PI in STEM courses, and the adoption of other pedagogic techniques in computing. Particular effort was made to identify the reasons computing instructors don’t adopt PI. This report also includes advice to instructors considering adopting PI in computing courses

Does Creating Programming Assignments with Tests Lead to Improved Performance in Writing Unit Tests?

We have constructed a tool, CrowdSorcerer, in which students create programming assignments, their model solutions and associated test cases using a simple input-output format. We have used the tool as a part of an introductory programming course with normal course activities such as programming assignments and a final exam. In our work, we focus on whether creating programming assignments and associated tests correlate with students' performance in a testing-related exam question. We study this through an analysis of the quality of student-written tests within the tool, measured using the number of test cases, line coverage and mutation coverage, and students' performance in testing related exam question, measured using exam points. Finally, we study whether previous programming experience correlates with how students act within the tool and within the testing related exam question.Peer reviewe

"It's Weird That it Knows What I Want": Usability and Interactions with Copilot for Novice Programmers

Recent developments in deep learning have resulted in code-generation models that produce source code from natural language and code-based prompts with high accuracy. This is likely to have profound effects in the classroom, where novices learning to code can now use free tools to automatically suggest solutions to programming exercises and assignments. However, little is currently known about how novices interact with these tools in practice. We present the first study that observes students at the introductory level using one such code auto-generating tool, Github Copilot, on a typical introductory programming (CS1) assignment. Through observations and interviews we explore student perceptions of the benefits and pitfalls of this technology for learning, present new observed interaction patterns, and discuss cognitive and metacognitive difficulties faced by students. We consider design implications of these findings, specifically in terms of how tools like Copilot can better support and scaffold the novice programming experience.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figures, TOCH

Multinational perspectives on information technology from academia and industry

As the term \u27information technology\u27 has many meanings for various stakeholders and continues to evolve, this work presents a comprehensive approach for developing curriculum guidelines for rigorous, high quality, bachelor\u27s degree programs in information technology (IT) to prepare successful graduates for a future global technological society. The aim is to address three research questions in the context of IT concerning (1) the educational frameworks relevant for academics and students of IT, (2) the pathways into IT programs, and (3) graduates\u27 preparation for meeting future technologies. The analysis of current trends comes from survey data of IT faculty members and professional IT industry leaders. With these analyses, the IT Model Curricula of CC2005, IT2008, IT2017, extensive literature review, and the multinational insights of the authors into the status of IT, this paper presents a comprehensive overview and discussion of future directions of global IT education toward 2025

A Survey of Smart Classroom Literature

Recently, there has been a substantial amount of research on smart classrooms, encompassing a number of areas, including Information and Communication Technology, Machine Learning, Sensor Networks, Cloud Computing, and Hardware. Smart classroom research has been quickly implemented to enhance education systems, resulting in higher engagement and empowerment of students, educators, and administrators. Despite decades of using emerging technology to improve teaching practices, critics often point out that methods miss adequate theoretical and technical foundations. As a result, there have been a number of conflicting reviews on different perspectives of smart classrooms. For a realistic smart classroom approach, a piecemeal implementation is insufficient. This survey contributes to the current literature by presenting a comprehensive analysis of various disciplines using a standard terminology and taxonomy. This multi-field study reveals new research possibilities and problems that must be tackled in order to integrate interdisciplinary works in a synergic manner. Our analysis shows that smart classroom is a rapidly developing research area that complements a number of emerging technologies. Moreover, this paper also describes the co-occurrence network of technological keywords using VOSviewer for an in-depth analysis

Directing Incoming CS Students to an Appropriate Introductory Computer Science Course

Full Paper. Research. We discuss possible ways to direct students to right level of introductory programming. While many schools offer college preparatory or advanced placement courses in computing, there is still, unfortunately, a large part of the "college-ready" population that has no opportunity to learn computing at all before they arrive. Regulation of CS education at the state/province or national level is still rare (but growing). Thus incoming students possess a wide range of skills and knowledge. When coupled with increasing enrollments, this diversity of experience can result in courses having large numbers of both absolute beginners and seasoned coders. Such courses are difficult to teach, intimidate novice students, and bore those with more experience. This can result in low engagement and retention.Unlike mathematics and language arts, introductory courses in CS vary widely from one institution to another in both conceptual material and programming language used. A standard point of entry to college mathematics is a calculus course, with some students instead starting earlier with pre-calculus or an algebra refresher, and others starting out in the second-term calculus course. There is rarely a concern about student skill being hidden by notational or other language differences, because the language of mathematics is close to universal. Similarly, freshman language arts courses in reading and/or writing assume a certain level of skill and maturity of comprehension and expressiveness in the target language; otherwise remedial courses are provided.We investigate placement of incoming first year students into appropriate introductory computer science courses at higher education institutions where there is more than one choice of first course. The goal is to determine the best way to decide which first course would be the most helpful for each student

Persistence of Time Management Behavior of Students and Its Relationship with Performance in Software Projects

Teachers often preach for their students to start working on assignments early. There is even a fair amount of scientific evidence that starting early is beneficial for learning. In this work, we investigate students’ time management behavior in a second-year project-based software engineering course. In the course, students work on a software project in small groups of four to six students. We study time management from multiple angles. Firstly, we conduct an exploratory factor analysis and study how different time management related behavioral metrics are related to one another, for example, whether individual students’ time management practices in the second-year group project-based course are similar to their earlier time management practices in first-year courses where students work on assignments individually. Understanding how students’ previous time management behavior is manifested in later project-based courses would be beneficial when designing project-based education. Secondly, we study whether students’ time management practices affect the peer-review scores they get from their group members. Lastly, we explore how time management affects course performance. Our findings suggest that time management behavior, even from courses taken in the past, can be used to predict how students perform in future courses.Peer reviewe

Mapping the landscape: Peer review in computing education research

Peer review is a mainstay of academic publication – indeed, it is the peer-review process that provides much of the publications’ credibility. As the number of computing education conferences and the number of submissions increase, the need for reviewers grows. This report does not attempt to set standards for reviewing; rather, as a first step toward meeting the need for well qualified reviewers, it presents an overview of the ways peer review is used in various venues, both inside computing education and, for com- parison, in closely-related areas outside our field. It considers four key components of peer review in some depth: criteria, the review process, roles and responsibilities, and ethics and etiquette. To do so, it draws on relevant literature, guidance and forms associated with peer review, interviews with journal editors and conference chairs, and a limited survey of the computing education research community. In addition to providing an overview of practice, this report identifies a number of themes running through the discourse that have relevance for decision making about how best to conduct peer review for a given venue

Improving Student Enjoyment, Time Management, and Performance Using a Secure, Immersive Gamified Learning Platform

We analyze the thesis that a fully immersive gamified learning platform benefits students, improving their enjoyment, time management, and performance by engaging them with the subject matter. We assert that an immersive experience centered around a true game produces better results than exercises with just a few gamified elements (e.g., points, badges, and leaderboards), which are the most common forms of gamification. To this end, we present Riposte, an online gamified learning platform with a 2D action game at its core. To analyze student behavior and support less gamified assignments (to serve as contrasting examples), Riposte is designed to be a single, unified experience for students, with an integrated development environment (Jupyter Notebook) built in. In outlining this system, we give particular emphasis to its security, as it was developed for use in the "Introduction to Computer Security" course at our university. The topic of cybersecurity presents a number of interesting challenges for an online gamified learning platform – aspects of the framework must be insecure enough to be hackable, but secure enough not to be abused. We evaluate the system over three semesters, highlighting many pitfalls and lessons learned but, in the end, demonstrating that it successfully improved student enjoyment, time management, and performance. Furthermore, based on our experiences with the platform, we offer a number of suggestions and recommendations that we hope will help those considering gamification as a winning educational strategy in computer science, cybersecurity, and beyond.Doctor of Philosoph