2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This paper evaluates the non-cognitive effects of a debugging exercise in an introductory-level Digital Logic Design (DLD) course in an electrical and computer engineering department. Debugging and troubleshooting are the processes of identifying and fixing faults in a computer program/system, respectively. Computer science curricula have seen a gradual increase in debugging topics; however, debugging remains a sparse topic in DLD courses. Many existing resources touch on debugging to tout its importance, but do not provide scaffolding for how to learn or teach it.

The new debugging exercise involved four main steps: (1) the instructor introduced the overall activity, (2) students completed a debugging task to attempt with little guidance, (3) students observed a debugging expert attempt the same task, and (4) students completed another debugging task on their own. Throughout this process, students completed surveys and reflections to measure the impact of the activity on debugging and four non-cognitive factors: self-efficacy, mindset, emotion, and persistence.

We found that after the debugging intervention, the percentage of students who found all errors within the activity increased from 10% to 36%. Students also reported higher levels of self-efficacy, growth mindset, positive emotion, and persistence after the debugging intervention. These results suggest that the debugging intervention had an overall positive impact.