Does studio-based instruction work in CS 1?

Abstract

Given the increasing importance of communication, teamwork, and critical thinking skills in the computing profession, we believe there is good reason to provide students with increased opportunities to learn and practice those skills in undergraduate computing courses. Toward that end, we have been exploring studio-based instructional methods, which have been successfully employed in architecture and fine arts education for over a century. We have developed an adaptation of studio-based instruction for computing education called the pedagogical code review, which is modeled after the code inspection process used in the software industry. To evaluate its effectiveness, we carried out a quasi-experimental comparison of a "studio-based" CS 1 course with pedagogical code reviews and an identical "traditional" CS 1 course without pedagogical code reviews. We found no learning outcome differences between the two courses; however, we did observe two interesting attitudinal trends: (a) self-efficacy decreased more in the traditional course than in the studio-based course; and (b) peer learning decreased in the traditional course, but increased in the studio-based course. Additional questionnaire and interview data provide further evidence of the positive impact of studio-based instruction.

Advancing the Science of Collaborative Problem Solving

“…There is an iterative process of inquiry and critique within an interactive studio space, where students work with experts who use prompts and discussion to guide the process. This approach has been adopted in settings as varied as mathematics, chemistry, engineering, and computer programming (Hundhausen, Agrawal, Fairbrother, & Trevisan, 2010). However, there is much less research on the effectiveness of studio-based learning; most studies have reviewed the methods only qualitatively.…”

Introductory programming: a systematic literature review

“…Several studies have explored ways to enrich student attitudes, often with the intention of improving some aspect of course 'health' or the student experience. These interventions include collaborative scaffolding [194], problem-based learning [208], peer tutoring [220], pedagogical code review [282], facilitated e-learning [365], and peer instruction [731].…”

“…This approach emphasises evaluation and communication in the design of a solution, and appears to be more effective when supported by a visualisation tool [289]. Students using a studio-based approach had higher self-efficacy than those in a more traditional classroom environment and were more favourably disposed towards peer learning, but both environments resulted in similar levels of content knowledge in final exams [282]. A three-year case study of studio-based learning reported that students enjoyed the social aspect of studio learning and found its open-ended nature highly engaging [541].…”

50 Years of CS1 at SIGCSE

“…Table 7 shows the subcategories in this category and the corresponding number of papers published in each decade. Papers in the Other subcategory included topics such as peer code review, studiobased instruction (which includes pedagogical code review) [22], POGIL [20], and group projects. As can be seen in Figure 2, interest in this area has risen dramatically since the turn of the century.…”