{"title":"A Redesigned Pedagogy in Introductory Programming Reduces Failure and Withdrawal Rates by Half","authors":"Said C. Fares, Mary A. Fares","volume":89,"journal":"International Journal of Educational and Pedagogical Sciences","pagesStart":1259,"pagesEnd":1263,"ISSN":"1307-6892","URL":"https:\/\/publications.waset.org\/pdf\/9998103","abstract":"
It is well documented that introductory computer
\r\nprogramming courses are difficult and that failure rates are high. The
\r\naim of this project was to reduce the high failure and withdrawal rates
\r\nin learning to program. This paper presents a number of changes in
\r\nmodule organization and instructional delivery system in teaching
\r\nCS1. Daily out of class help sessions and tutoring services were
\r\napplied, interactive lectures and laboratories, online resources, and
\r\ntimely feedback were introduced. Five years of data of 563 students
\r\nin 21 sections was collected and analyzed. The primary results show
\r\nthat the failure and withdrawal rates were cut by more than half.
\r\nStudent surveys indicate a positive evaluation of the modified
\r\ninstructional approach, overall satisfaction with the course and
\r\nconsequently, higher success and retention rates.<\/p>\r\n","references":"[1] Jens Bennedsen, Michael E. Caspersen. \"Failure Rates in Introductory\r\nProgramming\u201d. SIGCSE Bulletin, Vol. 39, No. 2. 2007.\r\n[2] Bennedsen, J. and Caspersen, M.E. \"An Investigation of Potential\r\nSuccess factors for an Introductory Model-Driven Programming\r\nCourse\u201d. Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Computing\r\nEducation Research (ICER \u201905). ACM. 2005.\r\n[3] P\u00e4ivi Kinnunen, Lauri Malmi. \"Why Students Drop Out CS1 Course?\u201d.\r\nICER, Canterbury, UK, 2006.\r\n[4] Rountree, N., Rountree, J., Robins, A. & Hannah, R. \"Interacting Factors\r\nthat Predict Success and Failure in a CS1 Course\u201d. SIGCSE Bulletin,\r\nVol. 36, No. 4. 2004.\r\n[5] Tom Boyle, Claire Bradley, Peter Chalk, Ray Jones & Poppy Pickard.\r\n\"Using Blended Learning to Improve Student Success Rates in Learning\r\nto Program\u201d. Journal of Education Media, Vol. 28, 2003.\r\n[6] Said Hadjerrouit. \"Towards a Blended Learning Model for Teaching and\r\nLearning Computer Programming: A case Study\u201d. Informatics in\r\nEducation, Vol. 7, No. 2, 181-210, 2008.\r\n[7] Grandon Gill and Carolyn F. Holton. ADJERROUIT. \"A Self-Paced\r\nIntroductory Programming Course\u201d. Journal of Information Technology\r\nEducation. Volume 5, 2006.\r\n[8] Anthony Robins. Learning Edge Momentum: \"A New Account of\r\nOutcomes in CS1\u201d. Computer Science Education Vol. 20, No. 1. 2010.\r\n[9] Nocols, M. \"A theory of e-learning\u201d. Educational technology and\r\nSociety. Vol. 5, No. 2, 2003.\r\n[10] Wilson, B.C. & Shrock, S. \"Contributing to Success in an Introductory\r\nComputer Science Course: A Study of Twelve Factors\u201d. ACM SIGCSE\r\nBulletin, Vol. 33, No. 1. 2006.\r\n[11] Woszczynski, A., Haddad, H., & Zgambo, A.: \"Towards a Model of\r\nStudent Success in Programming Courses\u201d. Proceedings of the 43rd\r\nAnnual Southeast Regional Conference. Vol. 1. ACM-SE 43), 2005.\r\n[12] Porter, Leo, Simon, Beth. \"Retaining Nearly One-Third more Majors\r\nwith a Trio of Instructional Best Practices in CS1\u201d. SISCSE\u2019 13, 2013.\r\n[13] Zingaro, Daniel, Bailey Lee, Cynthia, Porter, Leo. \"Peer Instruction in\r\nComputing: the Role of Reading Quizzes\u201d. SISCSE\u2019 13, 2013.","publisher":"World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology","index":"Open Science Index 89, 2014"}