An official website of the United States government
Objectives The traditional, instructor-led form of live coding has been extensively studied, with findings showing that this form of live coding imparts similar learning to static-code examples. However, a concern with Traditional Live Coding is that it can turn into a passive learning activity for students as they simply observe the instructor program. Therefore, this study compares Active Live Coding—a form of live coding that leverages in-class coding activities and peer discussion—to Traditional Live Coding on three outcomes: 1) students’ adherence to effective programming processes, 2) students’ performance on exams and in-lecture questions, and 3) students’ lecture experience. Participants Roughly 530 students were enrolled in an advanced, CS1 course taught in Java at a large, public university in North America. The students were primarily first- and second-year undergraduate students with some prior programming experience. The student population was spread across two lecture sections—348 students in the Active Live Coding (ALC) lecture and 185 students in the Traditional Live Coding (TLC) lecture. Study Methods We used a mixed-methods approach to answer our‘ research questions. To compare students’ programming processes, we applied process-oriented metrics related to incremental development and error frequencies. To measure students’ learning outcomes, we compared students’ performance on major course components and used pre- and post-lecture questionnaires to compare students’ learning gain during lectures. Finally, to understand students’ lecture experience, we used a classroom observation protocol to measure and compare students’ behavioral engagement during the two lectures. We also inductively coded open-ended survey questions to understand students’ perceptions of live coding. Findings We did not find a statistically significant effect of ALC on students’ programming processes or learning outcomes. It seems that both ALC and TLC impart similar programming processes and result in similar student learning. However, our findings related to students’ lecture experience shows a persistent engagement effect of ALC, where students’ behavioral engagement peaks andremains elevatedafter the in-class coding activity and peer discussion. Finally, we discuss the unique affordances and drawbacks of the lecture technique as well as students’ perceptions of ALC. Conclusions Despite being motivated by well-established learning theories, Active Live Coding did not result in improved student learning or programming processes. This study is preceded by several prior works that showed that Traditional Live Coding imparts similar student learning and programming skills as static-code examples. Though potential reasons for the lack of observed learning benefits are discussed in this work, multiple future analyses to further investigate Active Live Coding may help the community understand the impacts (or lack thereof) of the instructional technique.
more »
« less
This content will become publicly available on July 1, 2026
Initial evidence that peer instruction is less effective for physics students with lower quantitative preparation in a highly heterogeneous class
Historically, physics education primarily consisted of lectures in which students have a largely passive role. Proponents of educational reform have rallied around active learning to increase engagement and retention in STEM fields, particularly advocating peer interactions to build a foundation of deep understanding. However, little is known about how students' prior preparation for introductory courses impacts their mastery of course material when instructors incorporate active learning. In the present study, we examine learning outcomes in two sections of an introductory mechanics course at an institution with a wide range of students' prior mathematics preparation as assessed by quantitative SAT scores. For each of three years, one section was taught using peer instruction in which much of the class time was spent in small-group discussions between students. The other section was taught by the same instructor using interactive lectures in which discussions primarily took place between volunteers from the class and the instructor. We find that students enrolled in the peer instruction sections earned lower grades in the course than did students in the interactive sections. We also find students in the peer instruction sections with lower quantitative SAT scores showed lower gains in understanding foundational concepts as assessed by the Force Concept Inventory and were less likely to earn an A in the course than comparable students in the interactive sections. While further research is needed to confirm these results, this study suggests that peer instruction might not be the optimal pedagogy for heterogeneous populations.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2201928
- PAR ID:
- 10612374
- Publisher / Repository:
- AIP Publishing
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- American Journal of Physics
- Volume:
- 93
- Issue:
- 7
- ISSN:
- 0002-9505
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 541 to 550
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
In engineering, students’ completion of prerequisites indicates an understanding of fundamental knowledge. Recent studies have shown a significant relationship between student performance and prior knowledge. Weak knowledge retention from prerequisite coursework can present challenges in progressive learning. This study investigates the relationship between prior knowledge and students’ performance over a few courses of Statics. Statistics has been considered as the subject of interest since it is the introductory engineering course upon which many subsequent engineering courses rely, including many engineering analysis and design courses. The prior knowledge was determined based on the quantitative and qualitative preparedness. A quiz set was designed to assess quantitative preparedness. The qualitative preparedness was assessed using a survey asking students’ subjective opinions about their preparedness at the beginning of the semester. Student performance was later quantified through final course grades. Each set of data were assigned three categories for grouping purposes to reflect preparedness: 1) high preparedness: 85% or higher score, 2) medium preparedness: between 60% and 85%, and 3) weak preparedness: 60% or lower. Pearson correlation coefficient and T-test was conducted on 129 students for linear regression and differences in means. The analysis revealed a non-significant correlation between the qualitative preparedness and final scores (p-value = 0.29). The data revealed that students underestimated their understanding of the prerequisites for the class, since the quantitative preparedness scores were relatively higher than the qualitative preparedness scores. This can be partially understood by the time gap between when prerequisites were taken and when the course under investigation was taken. Students may have felt less confident at first but were able to pick up the required knowledge quickly. A moderately significant correlation between students’ quantitative preparedness and course performance was observed (p -value < 0.05). Students with high preparedness showed >80% final scores, with a few exceptions; students with weak preparedness also showed relatively high final scores. However, most of the less prepared students made significant efforts to overcome their weaknesses through continuous communication and follow-up with the instructor. Despite these efforts, these students could not obtain higher than 90% as final scores, which indicates that level of preparedness reflects academic excellence. Overall, this study highlights the role of prior knowledge in achieving academic excellence for engineering. The study is useful to Civil Engineering instructors to understand the role of students’ previous knowledge in their understanding of difficult engineering concepts.more » « less
-
Grawe, Nathan D (Ed.)Many educators and professional organizations recommend Quantitative Reasoning as the best entry-level postsecondary mathematics course for non-STEM majors. However, novice and veteran instructors who have no prior experience in teaching a QR course often express their ignorance of the content to choose for this course, the instruction to offer students, and the assessments to measure student learning. We conducted a case study to investigate the initial implementation of an entry-level university quantitative reasoning course during fall semester, 2018. The participants were the course instructor and students. We examined the instructor’s motives and actions and the students’ responses to the course. The instructor had no prior experience teaching a QR course but did have 15 years of experience teaching student-centered mathematics. Data included course artifacts, class observations, an instructor interview, and students’ written reflections. Because this was a new course—and to adapt to student needs—the instructor employed his instructional autonomy and remained flexible in designing and enacting the course content, instruction, and assessment. His instructional decision making and flexible approach helped the instructor tailor the learning activities and teaching practices to the needs and interests of the students. The students generally appreciated and benefited from this approach, enjoyed the course, and provided positive remarks about the instructors’ practices.more » « less
-
Understanding the relationship between science and society is included as a core competency for biology students in the United States. However, traditional undergraduate biology instruction emphasizes scientific practice and generally avoids potentially controversial issues at the intersection of science and society, such as representation in STEM, historical unethical research experiments, biology of sex and gender, and environmental justice. As calls grow to highlight this core competency, it is critical we investigate the impact of including these topics in undergraduate biology education. Here, we implemented a semester-long ideological awareness curriculum that emphasized biases, stereotypes, and assumptions that have shaped historical and contemporary science. We taught this curriculum to one section of a non-majors introductory biology course and compared the outcomes to a section of the same course taught using traditional biology content (hereafter the ‘traditional’ section) that did not emphasize societal topics. Both sections of students created concept maps for their final exam, which we coded for ‘society’ and ‘biology’ content. We then assessed (1) the amount of societal content included in the concept maps, and (2) which societal topics were mentioned in each section. We found that students in the ideologically aware section included more societal content in their concept maps than the students in the traditional section. Students exposed to the ideological awareness modules often mentioned the topics covered in those modules, whereas students in the traditional section most commonly mentioned faulty scientific information such as pseudoscience or non-credible research, which was emphasized in the first chapter of the required text-book for both sections. Our results show students who were not engaged in activities about ideological awareness in biology had fewer notions of how society impacts science at the end of the semester. These findings highlight the importance of intentionally teaching students the bidirectional impacts of science and society.more » « less
-
Starting in March 2020, the COVID19 pandemic instantly affected the education of 14 million higher education students in the USA. The switch to remote instruction caught instructors and students off guard – teachers had to change their techniques, approaches, and course content rapidly (called “panicgogy”), and students had to adjust to remote instruction in a hurry. Hoping that the pandemic would not last too long, most had expected to return to the regular class format at most by the Fall semester. That expectation was quickly squashed as the summer semester progressed. If one were teaching a face-to-face classroom in a flipped modality, it would be even more challenging to teach a flipped class in an online environment. In this paper, we present how the instructor overhauled a face-to-face flipped class in Numerical Methods to an online environment. This involved 1) rethinking the learning design of the course content via the learning management system, 2) using Microsoft forms as personal response systems, and YouTube for video lectures, 3) not only using break-out rooms for peer-to-peer learning but the “main room” for individual learning as well, 4) exploit the availability of two computers and multiple monitors to deliver and observe the synchronous part of the class, 5) use of discussion boards to streamline the flow of communication that would have otherwise been unwieldy for the instructor, TAs, and students alike, 6) changes made to assessment as it had to be carried online and within a proctoring software environment, 7) changes in the conducting of office hours. The above items will be discussed in the paper, and comparisons of face-to-face and online implementations will be made. The ultimate goal is to present a logic model for a typical lecture-based online flipped STEM classroom for efficient and effective implementation by other instructors.more » « less
