research-article

Crescendo: Engaging Students to Self-Paced Programming Practices

Authors:

Alexandra Milliken,

Nicholas Lytle,

Thomas W. PriceAuthors Info & Claims

SIGCSE '20: Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

Pages 859 - 865

https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366919

Published: 26 February 2020 Publication History

Abstract

This paper introduces Crescendo, a self-paced programming practice environment that combines the block-based and visual, interactive programming of Snap!, with the structured practices commonly found in Drill-and-Practice Environments. Crescendo supports students with Parsons problems to reduce problem complexity, Use-Modify-Create task progressions to gradually introduce new programming concepts, and automated feedback and assessment to support learning. In this work, we report on our experience deploying Crescendo in a programming camp for middle school students, as well as in an introductory university course for non-majors. Our initial results from field observations and log data suggest that the support features in Crescendo kept students engaged and allowed them to progress through programming concepts quickly. However, some students still struggled even with these highly-structured problems, requiring additional assistance, suggesting that even strong scaffolding may be insufficient to allow students to progress independently through the tasks.

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Cited By

Wang WRao YKwatra AMilliken ADong YGomes NMartin SCatété VIsvik ABarnes TMartens CPrice TLaakso MMonga MSimon Sheard J(2023)A Case Study on When and How Novices Use Code Examples in Open-Ended ProgrammingProceedings of the 2023 Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3587102.3588774(82-88)Online publication date: 29-Jun-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3587102.3588774
Wang WBacher JIsvik ALimke ASthapit SShi YTabarsi BTran KCateté VBarnes TMartens CPrice T(2023)Investigating the Impact of On-Demand Code Examples on Novices' Open-Ended Programming ExperienceProceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 110.1145/3568813.3600141(464-475)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3568813.3600141
Syaifudin YMentari MKaswar AAriyanto YRosiani UPuspitasari D(2023)Implementation and Evaluation of Self-learning Topic for SQLite Integration in Flutter Programming Learning Assistance System2023 10th International Conference on Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Informatics (EECSI)10.1109/EECSI59885.2023.10295626(589-594)Online publication date: 20-Sep-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/EECSI59885.2023.10295626
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Index Terms

Crescendo: Engaging Students to Self-Paced Programming Practices
1. Applied computing
  1. Education
2. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education

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cover image ACM Conferences

SIGCSE '20: Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

February 2020

1502 pages

ISBN:9781450367936

DOI:10.1145/3328778

General Chairs:
Jian Zhang
Texas Woman's University, USA
,
Mark Sherriff
University of Virginia, USA
,
Program Chairs:
Sarah Heckman
North Carolina State University, USA
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Pamela Cutter
Kalamazoo College, USA
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Alvaro Monge
California State University, Long Beach, USA

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Published: 26 February 2020

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Cited By

Wang WRao YKwatra AMilliken ADong YGomes NMartin SCatété VIsvik ABarnes TMartens CPrice TLaakso MMonga MSimon Sheard J(2023)A Case Study on When and How Novices Use Code Examples in Open-Ended ProgrammingProceedings of the 2023 Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3587102.3588774(82-88)Online publication date: 29-Jun-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3587102.3588774
Wang WBacher JIsvik ALimke ASthapit SShi YTabarsi BTran KCateté VBarnes TMartens CPrice T(2023)Investigating the Impact of On-Demand Code Examples on Novices' Open-Ended Programming ExperienceProceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 110.1145/3568813.3600141(464-475)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3568813.3600141
Syaifudin YMentari MKaswar AAriyanto YRosiani UPuspitasari D(2023)Implementation and Evaluation of Self-learning Topic for SQLite Integration in Flutter Programming Learning Assistance System2023 10th International Conference on Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Informatics (EECSI)10.1109/EECSI59885.2023.10295626(589-594)Online publication date: 20-Sep-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/EECSI59885.2023.10295626
Syaifudin YLiliana DKaswar AFatmawati TFunabiki NSiradjuddin I(2023)Generating Automated Assistance Mechanism in Android Programming Self-learning System Using Automatic Testing Tools2023 International Conference on Innovation and Intelligence for Informatics, Computing, and Technologies (3ICT)10.1109/3ICT60104.2023.10391287(445-450)Online publication date: 20-Nov-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/3ICT60104.2023.10391287
Rahman MWatanobe YSzmeja PSowiński PPaprzycki MGanzha M(2023)Code Semantics Learning with Deep Neural Networks: An AI-Based Approach for Programming EducationComputational Science – ICCS 202310.1007/978-3-031-36030-5_57(737-750)Online publication date: 3-Jul-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-031-36030-5_57
Ericson BDenny PPrather JDuran RHellas ALeinonen JMiller CMorrison BPearce JRodger SQuille KAlshaigy BBecker BQuille KLaakso M(2022)Parsons Problems and BeyondProceedings of the 2022 Working Group Reports on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education10.1145/3571785.3574127(191-234)Online publication date: 27-Dec-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3571785.3574127
Jemmali CSeif El-Nasr MCooper S(2022)The Effects of Adaptive Procedural Levels on Engagement and Performance in an Educational Programming GameProceedings of the 17th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games10.1145/3555858.3555892(1-12)Online publication date: 5-Sep-2022
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Haynes-Magyar CHaynes-Magyar N(2022)Codespec: A Computer Programming Practice EnvironmentProceedings of the 2022 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 210.1145/3501709.3544278(32-34)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2022
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Gardner TLeonard HWaite JSentance S(2022)What do We Know about Computing Education for K-12 in Non-formal Settings? A Systematic Literature Review of Recent ResearchProceedings of the 2022 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research - Volume 110.1145/3501385.3543960(264-281)Online publication date: 3-Aug-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3501385.3543960
Cates SMerkle LDoyle MSheard JSoh LDorn B(2022)Programming Practice Logs as a Tool to Support Equity and InclusionProceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 210.1145/3478432.3499083(1091-1091)Online publication date: 3-Mar-2022
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