A differentiated picture of student performance in introductory courses to theory of computation

ABSTRACT

Background and Context

Considerable numbers of Computer science (CS) undergraduate majors struggle in Theory of Computation (ToC) courses, which strengthen bimodality beliefs of student performance. Reasons for students struggling are assumed to be manifold but substantial ground is based on studies providing singular insights into this matter.

Objective

To understand students’ issues with ToC, we analysed their performance on homework and exams and replicated our study in two consecutive years.

Method

We used exploratory data analysis to compare students’ performances within single assignments. With one-way analyses of variances, we focused on significant differences between the years.

Findings

Our results indicate that students’ homework performance did not predict their exam performance and that all students, independent of their grade, had the most difficulty with formal proofs.

Implications

Our results challenge potential beliefs about bimodal student performance indicating all CS undergraduates require thorough training in proof techniques to improve their overall performance in ToC.

KEYWORDS:

• Computer science education
• theory of computation
• exploratory data analysis
• student performance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christiane Frede

Christiane Frede is a PhD candidate at the Departments of Informatics at Universität Hamburg (Hamburg, Germany). Her research focuses on Computer Science Education, specifically on getting a more detailed insight into students’ difficulties with proof assignments in courses introducing Theory of Computation.

Maria Knobelsdorf

Maria Knobelsdorf is professor for Computer Science Education at Universität Wien (Vienna, Austria). She majored in Informatik (Computer Science) and obtained her Dr.rer.nat. degree in Computer Science Education, both from Freie Universität Berlin (Berlin, Germany). She has been Juniorprofessor at Universität Hamburg (Germany) as well as postdoc, visiting researcher, and guest professor at several universities in Germany and the US. Also, she worked as a CS Education consultant at “New York City Foundation for Computer Science Education (CSNYC)” and “Bronx Academy of Software Engineering (BASE)“, NY, USA.