A Multi-institutional Study of Peer Instruction in Introductory Computing

Porter, Leo; Bouvier, Dennis; Cutts, Quintin; Grissom, Scott; Lee, Cynthia; McCartney, Robert; Zingaro, Daniel; Simon, Beth

doi:10.1145/2839509.2844642

Cited by 70 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Peer Instruction has been studied extensively in computing, finding that Peer Instruction: is valued by students in lower-and upperdivision courses at both large research-focused universities and small liberal arts colleges [21,31,32]; shifts students classroom engagement from passive to interactive [40]; results in in-class learning, both from peers [34] and from the instructor [57]; reduces failure rates [8,33]; results in improved final exam scores [42,55]; and provides data useful to researchers for identifying key concepts and struggling students [23][24][25]37].…”

Section: Peer Instructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Longitudinal Evaluation of a Best Practices CS1

Salguero

McAuley

Simon

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research

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Over a decade ago, the CS1 course for students without prior programming experience at a large research-intensive university was redesigned to incorporate three best practices in teaching programming: Media Computation, Pair Programming, and Peer Instruction. The purpose of this revision was to improve the quality of the course, appeal to a larger student body, and improve retention in the major. An initial analysis of the course indicated an increase in pass rates and 1-yr retention of students in the major. Now that time has passed and those students impacted by the revision have had time to graduate, this longitudinal study revisits and expands on these prior findings through examining student outcomes over a twelve year period (2001 through 2013). The student outcomes examined include failure rates in CS1, retention rates in the major, rates of switching into the major, time to degree, and performance in subsequent major courses. We compare these findings against similar metrics collected for another CS1 course at the same institution that caters to students with prior programming experience and did not make changes during this same time period. Overall, the inclusion of media computation, pair programming, and peer instruction corresponds to a significant improvement in passing rates for CS1 as well as retention of majors from CS1 through graduation. In turn, there is no indication that this larger group of students experienced any harm in terms of lower grades in upper-division courses or their time to degree.

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Section: Peer Instructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Longitudinal Evaluation of a Best Practices CS1

Salguero

McAuley

Simon

et al. 2020

Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research

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“…Peer Instruction questions may be particularly predictive as they are designed to address core concepts and highlight common misconceptions. In addition, these questions in our courses are graded on participation rather than correctness [16]. This gives students the freedom to represent their understanding accurately, as there is no grade incentive to solicit assistance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Value of Different Data Sources for Predicting Student Performance in Multiple CS Courses

Liao

Zingaro

Alvarado

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

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A number of recent studies in computer science education have explored the value of various data sources for early prediction of students' overall course performance. These data sources include responses to clicker questions, prerequisite knowledge, instrumented student IDEs, quizzes, and assignments. However, these data sources are often examined in isolation or in a single course. Which data sources are most valuable, and does course context matter? To answer these questions, this study collected student grades on prerequisite courses, Peer Instruction clicker responses, online quizzes, and assignments, from five courses (over 1000 students) across the CS curriculum at two institutions. A trend emerges suggesting that for upper-division courses, prerequisite grades are most predictive; for introductory programming courses, where no prerequisite grades were available, clicker responses were the most predictive. In concert, prerequisites and clicker responses generally provide highly accurate predictions early in the term, with assignments and online quizzes sometimes providing incremental improvements. Implications of these results for both researchers and practitioners are discussed.

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“…Peer instruction methods ask students to engage in meaningful discussions regarding their comprehension of a topic by comparing their answers to tests. Peer instruction has been successfully used in several studies [330,28,328], and it results show that it can halve course failure rates [280], and students perceive peer instruction as a valid instruction method [281]. Previous results show that peer instruction can improve students' final exam grades when compared to traditional lectures [331] and that it can be successfully used in advanced CS courses, with results similar of those in introductory courses [187]; Peer instruction also has the potential to increase students' self-efficacy [403].…”

Section: During Task Performancementioning

confidence: 99%