CORRELATIONS AMONG ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES USED IN AN INTRODUCTORY PROGRAMMING COURSE

Year 2014, Volume: 1 , 346 - 351, 01.09.2014

Cagin Kazımoglu , Umut Tekguc , Kamil Yurtkan

Abstract

Learning computer
programming is often perceived to be a difficult task by novice programming
students and there have been several studies into the failure rate of students
learning to program. This study explores the correlations between introductory
programming students’ ability to program and their theoretical knowledge in computer
programming in order to analyze whether or not their performance in written
exams are genuine and accurate. A rigorous statistical analysis was conducted
with 400 introductory programming students who were randomly selected without
considering whether or not they had a good programming background. The findings
of the study used inferential statistics in order to define the correlations
between students’ practical and theoretical exam results. Additionally, the
correlations between students’ department and their exam results were
investigated in order to define whether or not students’ departments have an
impact on their success in exams.

Keywords

Introductory programming, computer programming, learning to program, assessment of programming courses

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