TY - GEN
T1 - Exploring novice programmers' homework practices
T2 - 51st ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, SIGCSE 2020
AU - Muller, Silvia
AU - Babes-Vroman, Monica
AU - Emenike, Mary
AU - Nguyen, Thu D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Publication rights licensed to ACM.
PY - 2020/2/26
Y1 - 2020/2/26
N2 - There are many factors that contribute to the success of students learning to code. For students in introductory programming classes, one source of complexity is the availability of a wide variety of information sources. In this paper, we report observations of students seeking information when working on programming homework assignments. Our data was collected from a think-aloud protocol embedded into semi-structured, individual interviews with students enrolled in a CS1 course. We analyze our data through the lens of information seeking behavior.We observed students using multiple sources of information, including referring back to course materials and searching for information online, and discussing how they sought help from friends, classmates, and family members. Herein, we discuss implications for teaching and future research based on our initial observations. For example, instructors could consider designing early homework assignments that would prompt students to seek information and follow up this assignment with an in-class discussion about homework strategies. Future research could investigate the mechanisms by which students progress from haphazard to more strategic information seeking behaviors.
AB - There are many factors that contribute to the success of students learning to code. For students in introductory programming classes, one source of complexity is the availability of a wide variety of information sources. In this paper, we report observations of students seeking information when working on programming homework assignments. Our data was collected from a think-aloud protocol embedded into semi-structured, individual interviews with students enrolled in a CS1 course. We analyze our data through the lens of information seeking behavior.We observed students using multiple sources of information, including referring back to course materials and searching for information online, and discussing how they sought help from friends, classmates, and family members. Herein, we discuss implications for teaching and future research based on our initial observations. For example, instructors could consider designing early homework assignments that would prompt students to seek information and follow up this assignment with an in-class discussion about homework strategies. Future research could investigate the mechanisms by which students progress from haphazard to more strategic information seeking behaviors.
KW - Computer science education
KW - Cs1
KW - Homework.
KW - Information seeking behavior
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85081570660&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85081570660&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/3328778.3366885
DO - 10.1145/3328778.3366885
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85081570660
T3 - SIGCSE 2020 - Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
SP - 333
EP - 339
BT - SIGCSE 2020 - Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
Y2 - 11 March 2020 through 14 March 2020
ER -