Formative and summative assessment are critical components of teaching and grading in first-year programming courses (CS1 and CS2).
How well do results on multiple-choice and other automatically assessed tasks correlate with results on problem-solving tasks (such as programming assignments) typically assessed manually? Do these correlations vary between students, and if so, how and why? How do different kinds of tasks contribute to students' learning outcome? Can correlations be identified between exam results on different types of tasks, and the likelihood of progression and success in a subsequent CS2 course (IN1010)?
In this master’s project, you will use historical data to compare results on different types of tasks completed by individual students in a CS1 course (IN1000). Further data collection may involve observations and interviews for a more in-depth analysis, and tracking individual students in CS2 to include midterm and final exam results.
You will develop a precise problem formulation and research questions in cooperation with your supervisors. The resulting thesis will typically combine analyses of locally collected data with methods and results from international computer science education research.