TY - GEN
T1 - Examining the impact of computational creativity exercises on college computer science students' learning, achievement, self-efficacy, and creativity
AU - Peteranetz, Markeya S.
AU - Wang, Shiyuan
AU - Shell, Duane F.
AU - Flanigan, Abraham E.
AU - Soh, Leen Kiat
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was partially supported by the National Science Foundation (Grants No. 0829647, 1431874, and 1122956).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Association for Computing Machinery.
PY - 2018/2/21
Y1 - 2018/2/21
N2 - The purpose of the present study was to investigate how the inclusion of computational creativity exercises (CCEs) merging computational and creative thinking in undergraduate computer science (CS) courses affected students' course grades, learning of core CS knowledge, self-efficacy, and creative competency. CCEs were done in lower- and upper-division CS courses at a single university. Students in CCE implementation courses were compared to students in the same courses in different semesters. Propensity score matching was used to create comparable groups (control and implementation) based on students' GPA, motivation, and engagement. Results showed that implementing CCEs in undergraduate CS courses enhanced grades, learning of core CS knowledge, and self-efficacy for creatively applying CS knowledge. However, CCEs did not impact creative competency. The effect of the CCEs was consistent across upper- and lowerdivision courses for all outcomes. Unlike previous studies that only established the support for CCEs, such as positive dosage effects, the results of this study indicate that CCEs have a causal effect on students' achievement, learning, and self-efficacy, and this effect is independent of general academic achievement, motivation, and engagement. These findings establish the CCEs as a validated, evidence-based instructional method.
AB - The purpose of the present study was to investigate how the inclusion of computational creativity exercises (CCEs) merging computational and creative thinking in undergraduate computer science (CS) courses affected students' course grades, learning of core CS knowledge, self-efficacy, and creative competency. CCEs were done in lower- and upper-division CS courses at a single university. Students in CCE implementation courses were compared to students in the same courses in different semesters. Propensity score matching was used to create comparable groups (control and implementation) based on students' GPA, motivation, and engagement. Results showed that implementing CCEs in undergraduate CS courses enhanced grades, learning of core CS knowledge, and self-efficacy for creatively applying CS knowledge. However, CCEs did not impact creative competency. The effect of the CCEs was consistent across upper- and lowerdivision courses for all outcomes. Unlike previous studies that only established the support for CCEs, such as positive dosage effects, the results of this study indicate that CCEs have a causal effect on students' achievement, learning, and self-efficacy, and this effect is independent of general academic achievement, motivation, and engagement. These findings establish the CCEs as a validated, evidence-based instructional method.
KW - Computational creativity
KW - Computational thinking
KW - Computer science education
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U2 - 10.1145/3159450.3159459
DO - 10.1145/3159450.3159459
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85046070688
T3 - SIGCSE 2018 - Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
SP - 155
EP - 160
BT - SIGCSE 2018 - Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
PB - Association for Computing Machinery, Inc
T2 - 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, SIGCSE 2018
Y2 - 21 February 2018 through 24 February 2018
ER -