Blogs (19) >>
Fri 17 Mar 2023 14:10 - 14:35 at 713 - Assessing and Predicting Student Performance Chair(s): Rafa Absar

We conducted an across-semester quasi-experimental study that compared students’ outcomes under frequent and infrequent testing regimens in an introductory computer science course. In this quasi-experiment, students in the frequent testing (4 quizzes and 4 exams) semester outperformed the infrequent testing (1 mid-term and 1 final exam) semester by 4.3 to 8.0 percentage points on tracing questions and 9.1 to 13.5 percentage points on code writing questions. We complement these performance results with additional data from surveys, interviews, and analysis of textbook behavior. In the surveys, students report a preference for the smaller number of exams, but rated the exams in the frequent testing semester to be both less difficult and less stressful, in spite of the exams containing identical content. In the interviews, students predominantly indicated (1) that the frequent testing regimen encourages better study habits (e.g., more attention to work, less cramming) and leads to better learning, (2) that frequent testing reduces test anxiety, and (3) that the frequent testing regimen was more fair, but these opinions were not universally held. The students’ impressions that the frequent testing regimen would lead to better study habits is borne out in our analysis of students’ activities in the course’s interactive text book. In the frequent testing semester, students spent more time on textbook readings and appeared to answer textbook questions more earnestly (i.e., less “gaming the system” by using hints and brute force).

Fri 17 Mar

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13:45 - 15:00
Assessing and Predicting Student PerformancePapers at 713
Chair(s): Rafa Absar Metro State University
13:45
25m
Paper
Identifying different student clusters in functional programming assignments: From quick learners to struggling studentsIn-PersonGlobal
Papers
Chuqin Geng McGill University, Wenwen Xu McGill University, Yingjie Xu McGill University, Brigitte Pientka McGill University, Xujie Si McGill University, Canada
DOI
14:10
25m
Paper
Investigating the Effects of Testing Frequency on Programming Performance and Students' BehaviorIn-Person
Papers
David Smith University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chinny Emeka University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Max Fowler University of Illinois, Matthew West University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign , Craig Zilles University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
DOI
14:35
25m
Paper
Ultra-Lightweight Early Prediction of At-Risk Students in CS1In-Person
Papers
Chelsea Gordon Zybooks, Stanley Zhao University of California, Riverside, Frank Vahid UC Riverside / zyBooks
DOI