Investigating the Effects of Prerequisite CS1 Options for a CS2 Course Through an Analysis of Student Project Scores in CS2

Laura K. Alford; James A. Juett; Heather Rypkema

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: First-Year Programs Division Technical Session 2: AI, Computation, and Electronics
Tagged Division: First-Year Programs Division (FYP)
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/47696

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Paper Authors

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Laura K. Alford University of Michigan orcid.org/0000-0002-3610-5483

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Laura K. Alford is a Lecturer IV at the University of Michigan. She researches ways to use data-informed analysis of students' performance and perceptions of classroom environment to support DEI-based curricula improvements.

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James A. Juett University of Michigan

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James Juett is a member of the teaching faculty in CSE at the University of Michigan.

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Heather Rypkema University of Michigan

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Heather Rypkema is Head of Learning Analytics at the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT), as well as Assistant Director with the Foundational Course Initiative (FCI). Prior to shifting into the field of educational assessment and analytics, she was a faculty member at various institutions with research specializations in theoretical quantum chemistry and laser photochemistry.

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Abstract

This complete research paper details our analysis of the effect of students’ pathways to a CS2 course on their project scores, exam scores, and final grades in the CS2 course.

Many institutions of higher learning have a standard multi-course sequence that covers the fundamentals of computer science/programming. The general introductory course is usually referred to as "CS1" in the literature; the second course usually covers data structures and is referred to as "CS2" in the literature.

The CS2 course at a large, midwestern research university has four options for a student to meet the CS1 prerequisite: credit for a college-level CS1 course at the home institution, transfer credit for a college-level CS1 course at different institution, a diagnostic test for competency, and AP credit (score of 5) for placing out of the CS1 course prerequisite requirement. These prerequisite options can represent four fundamentally different paths for students to take, and we wished to empirically verify students pursuing each pathway are sufficiently prepared to succeed in CS2 and identify any salient difference between outcomes in CS2 dependent on pathway.

Our institution historically did not provide a mechanism for students to use AP credit to place out of CS1 as it was assumed that the high school AP courses did not sufficiently prepare students for the rigors of a CS2 course taken in their first semester in college. However, as more students enrolled with significant programming experience in high school, and as more students ceased to be challenged in the CS1 courses, the path for accepting AP credit was formalized starting in the Fall 2019 semester, such that students who earned a 5 on the AP test could enter CS2 directly. This research was motivated in part by a desire to analyze whether students who enter CS2 via the AP credit path struggle more than, less than, or about the same as students entering via a college-level CS1 course.

Our assessment of student success was based on programming project scores, exam performance, and overall letter grades across seven years' worth of data (13,000+ total students). Our results show that across all metrics, students entering via the AP pathway generally perform significantly better than students entering via our traditional CS1 courses. Students who receive transfer credit for a CS1 course perform comparably to students who took a CS1 course in-house. Both alternative pathways have particularly low failure rates.

Citation
Format

Alford, L. K., & Juett, J. A., & Rypkema, H. (2024, June), Investigating the Effects of Prerequisite CS1 Options for a CS2 Course Through an Analysis of Student Project Scores in CS2 Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47696

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This complete research paper details our analysis of the effect of students’ pathways to a CS2 course on their project scores, exam scores, and final grades in the CS2 course. 

Many institutions of higher learning have a standard multi-course sequence that covers the fundamentals of computer science/programming. The general introductory course is usually referred to as &quot;CS1&quot; in the literature; the second course usually covers data structures and is referred to as &quot;CS2&quot; in the literature.

The CS2 course at a large, midwestern research university has four options for a student to meet the CS1 prerequisite: credit for a college-level CS1 course at the home institution, transfer credit for a college-level CS1 course at different institution, a diagnostic test for competency, and AP credit (score of 5) for placing out of the CS1 course prerequisite requirement. These prerequisite options can represent four fundamentally different paths for students to take, and we wished to empirically verify students pursuing each pathway are sufficiently prepared to succeed in CS2 and identify any salient difference between outcomes in CS2 dependent on pathway.

Our institution historically did not provide a mechanism for students to use AP credit to place out of CS1 as it was assumed that the high school AP courses did not sufficiently prepare students for the rigors of a CS2 course taken in their first semester in college. However, as more students enrolled with significant programming experience in high school, and as more students ceased to be challenged in the CS1 courses, the path for accepting AP credit was formalized starting in the Fall 2019 semester, such that students who earned a 5 on the AP test could enter CS2 directly. This research was motivated in part by a desire to analyze whether students who enter CS2 via the AP credit path struggle more than, less than, or about the same as students entering via a college-level CS1 course.

Our assessment of student success was based on programming project scores, exam performance, and overall letter grades across seven years&#39; worth of data (13,000+ total students). Our results show that across all metrics, students entering via the AP pathway generally perform significantly better than students entering via our traditional CS1 courses. Students who receive transfer credit for a CS1 course perform comparably to students who took a CS1 course in-house. Both alternative pathways have particularly low failure rates.
AU  - Laura K. Alford
AU  - James A. Juett
AU  - Heather Rypkema
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Investigating the Effects of Prerequisite CS1 Options for a CS2 Course Through an Analysis of Student Project Scores in CS2
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/47696
ER  -