TY - GEN
T1 - A multi-level analysis of the relationship between instruc-tional practices and retention in computer science
AU - Peteranetz, Markeya S.
AU - Soh, Leen Kiat
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Publication rights licensed to ACM.
PY - 2020/2/26
Y1 - 2020/2/26
N2 - Increasing retention in computer science (CS) courses is a goal of many CS departments. A key step to increasing retention is to un-derstand the factors that impact the likelihood students will con-tinue to enroll in CS courses. Prior research on retention in CS has mostly examined factors such as prior exposure to programming and students' personality characteristics, which are outside the control of undergraduate instructors. This study focuses on fac-tors within the control of instructors, namely, instructional prac-tices that directly impact students' classroom experiences. Partic-ipants were recruited from 25 sections of 14 different courses over 4 semesters. A multi-level model tested the effects of individual and class-average perceptions of cooperative learning and teacher directedness on the probability of subsequent enrollment in a CS course, while controlling for students' mastery of CS concepts and status as a CS major. Results indicated that students' individual perceptions of instructional practices were not associated with re-tention, but the average rating of cooperative learning within a course section was negatively associated with retention. Con-sistent with prior research, greater mastery of CS concepts and considering or having declared a CS major were associated with a higher probability of taking a future CS courses. Implications for findings are discussed.
AB - Increasing retention in computer science (CS) courses is a goal of many CS departments. A key step to increasing retention is to un-derstand the factors that impact the likelihood students will con-tinue to enroll in CS courses. Prior research on retention in CS has mostly examined factors such as prior exposure to programming and students' personality characteristics, which are outside the control of undergraduate instructors. This study focuses on fac-tors within the control of instructors, namely, instructional prac-tices that directly impact students' classroom experiences. Partic-ipants were recruited from 25 sections of 14 different courses over 4 semesters. A multi-level model tested the effects of individual and class-average perceptions of cooperative learning and teacher directedness on the probability of subsequent enrollment in a CS course, while controlling for students' mastery of CS concepts and status as a CS major. Results indicated that students' individual perceptions of instructional practices were not associated with re-tention, but the average rating of cooperative learning within a course section was negatively associated with retention. Con-sistent with prior research, greater mastery of CS concepts and considering or having declared a CS major were associated with a higher probability of taking a future CS courses. Implications for findings are discussed.
KW - Co-operative learning
KW - Computer science education
KW - Multi-level models
KW - Retention
KW - Student-centered classrooms
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85081554091&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85081554091&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/3328778.3366812
DO - 10.1145/3328778.3366812
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85081554091
T3 - SIGCSE 2020 - Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
SP - 37
EP - 43
BT - SIGCSE 2020 - Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
T2 - 51st ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, SIGCSE 2020
Y2 - 11 March 2020 through 14 March 2020
ER -