Blogs (19) >>
Sat 18 Mar 2023 09:20 - 09:45 at 701A - Investigating Mastery Learning Chair(s): Neena Thota

As enrollments in CS1 courses continue to rise, it has become essential for CS educators to support students with varying learning needs and prior programming experiences. Many experts have pointed to the use of mastery-based learning (MBL) which allows students to develop proficiency by engaging in formative practice problems at their own pace. However, less is known about the characteristics of students who use and benefit from such an approach. CS educators need strong evidence for whether formative practice helps to increase aggregate learning outcomes, especially among students who could gain the most from MBL. In this paper, we are interested in exploring the characteristics of students who engage with formative learning opportunities. We analyze data from 118 students enrolled in a CS1 course who were provided with weekly optional practice quizzes that contained multiple choice and free response questions. We used logistic regression to analyze who actually attempted these optional quizzes and found that while gender was not significant, students who do not have prior programming experience (PPE) were more likely to use optional practice than those with PPE. We also conducted a nonparametric two-sample analysis and found that students without PPE engage with optional practice questions to a higher level than students with PPE. Our findings explore the factors that may underpin students’ agency and their academic behavior and performance. These results can inform educators on how to scaffold students’ learning trajectories by accounting for expected group-based behavioral patterns while utilizing MBL in large CS1 courses.

Sat 18 Mar

Displayed time zone: Eastern Time (US & Canada) change

08:30 - 09:45
Investigating Mastery LearningPapers at 701A
Chair(s): Neena Thota University of Massachusetts
08:30
25m
Paper
A’s for All (as Time and Interest Allow)In-PersonGlobal
Papers
Dan Garcia UC Berkeley, Armando Fox UC Berkeley, Craig Zilles University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Matthew West University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Mariana Silva University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Neal Terrell CSU Long Beach, Solomon Russell El Camino College, Edwin Ambrosio El Camino College, Fuzail Shakir UC Berkeley
DOI
08:55
25m
Paper
Mastery Learning with Specs Grading for Programming Courses In-Person
Papers
Ella Tuson Brandeis University, Timothy Hickey Brandeis University
DOI
09:20
25m
Paper
Who Attempts Optional Practice Problems in a CS1 Course? Exploring Learner Agency to Foster Mastery LearningIn-Person
Papers
Ashish Aggarwal University of Florida, Neelima Puthanveetil University of Florida, Christina Gardner-McCune Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
DOI