Introductory programming: examining the exams

Date
2012-01-30
Authors
Simon,
Sheard, J
Carbone, A
Chinn, D
Laakso, M
Clear, Tony
deRaadt, M
D'Souza, D
Lister, R
Philpott, A
Supervisor
Item type
Conference Contribution
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ACS
Abstract

This paper describes a classification scheme that can be used to investigate the characteristics of introductory programming examinations. The scheme itself is described and its categories explained. We describe in detail the process of determining the level of agreement among classifiers, that is, the inter-rater reliability of the scheme, and we report the results of applying the classification scheme to 20 introductory programming examinations. We find that introductory programming examinations vary greatly in the coverage of topics, question styles, skill required to answer questions and the level of difficulty of questions. This study is part of a project that aims to investigate the nature and composition of formal examination instruments used in the summative assessment of introductory programming students, and the pedagogical intentions of the educators who construct these instruments.

Description
Keywords
examination papers, computing education, introductory programming
Source
Fourteenth Australasian Computing Education Research Conference (ACE 2012), Melbourne, Australia, 2012-01-30 - 2012-02-03, vol.123, pages 61 - 70
DOI
Rights statement
Copyright © 2012, Australian Computer Society, Inc. This paper appeared at (see Citation). Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology, (see Citation). Reproduction for academic, not-for profit purposes permitted provided this text is included.