2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

An analysis on the effectiveness of randomized, auto-graded activities in introductory programming courses

Presented at Computers in Education Division (COED) Track 3.D

Introductory programming courses are often overwhelming to students who have no prior coding experience. The design of an introductory programming course (CS1) can influence a student's choice of pursuing computer science in their career. Research shows that breaking down programming concepts to simpler and smaller pieces decreases the cognitive load and struggle for students thereby increasing student interest and retention.

This paper analyzes data from four online, interactive introductory programming textbooks (C, C++, Java, and Python) with activities that use a scaffolded approach to teach students programming concepts. The textbooks cover a variety of programming concepts from basic topics such as variables and branches to more advanced concepts such as recursion, across multiple languages. The textbooks have a series of randomized, auto-graded activities presented in a multi-level format, where each level is progressively harder than the previous. The activities are designed as code reading or code writing exercises to assess students' mastery to read and write code.

We analyzed over 726 such activities with 2179 levels attempted by 107,825 students across 572 universities. We study the average completion rate, the average time spent on an activity, and the average number of attempts per problem level. We further examined the study trends for how often students repeated completed activities for practice. The data validates the effectiveness of a scaffolding approach, and shows the effectiveness of randomized, auto-graded activities to teach programming concepts.

Authors

Jamie Emily Loeber zyBooks, A Wiley Brand [biography]

Jamie Loeber is an Assessment Specialist at zyBooks, a Wiley Brand. She earned her B.S. in Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine. She has taught programing and machine learning to students across the globe. Jamie is passionate about improving computer science education and creating better learning experiences in STEM.
Ms. Efthymia Kazakou zyBooks, A Wiley Brand [biography]

Efthymia Kazakou is Sr. Assessments manager at zyBooks, a startup spun-off from UC Riverside and acquired by Wiley. zyBooks develops interactive, web-native learning materials for STEM courses. Efthymia oversees the development and maintenance of all zyBo
Dr. Yamuna Rajasekhar zyBooks, A Wiley Brand [biography]

Yamuna Rajasekhar is Director of Content, Authoring, and Research at zyBooks, a Wiley Brand. She leads content development for the Computer Science and IT disciplines at zyBooks. She leads the authoring and pedagogy team at zyBooks, developing innovative learning solutions that drive measurable student success. She is also an author and contributor to various zyBooks titles. She was formerly an assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Miami University. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UNC Charlotte.
Dr. Annie Hui zyBooks, A Wiley Brand [biography]

Annie Hui is a zyBooks assessment specialist. She has 15 years of experience teaching computer science, information technology, and data science courses, in both in-person and online modes. She has taught in Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University. She specializes on course design to maximize student engagement and success.
Nicole Kehaulani Collins http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1905-284X zyBooks, A Wiley Brand [biography]

Nicole Collins is an Author Trainer and former Assessment Specialist at zyBooks, a Wiley Brand. She earned her B.S. in Computer Science and her M.Ed. in Learning, Design & Technology from UNC Charlotte. Her professional interests include computing education, online learning, educational technology, instructional design, curriculum development, and DEI in STEM. Nicole is passionate about creating engaging and effective learning experiences for students, leveraging her expertise in instructional design and technology to enhance educational outcomes for STEM disciplines.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

« View session