The backwash effect on SQL skills grading

Prior, Julia; Lister, Raymond

doi:10.1145/1026487.1008008

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Prior and Lister argued that the existing systems supported teaching but not summative assessment and therefore lacked motivation for students [15]. They created AsseSQL, an online assessment tool.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The earliest tools were teaching focussed, providing students with increased feedback, hints and sometimes personalised learning [6,8,11,17]. More recently produced tools have been focussed on assessment [10,15,16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Traditional options, such as a written test or online multiple choice quiz, were ruled out because they lacked authenticity [18]. Instead, we examined the literature on SQL assessment and adopted the approach of Prior and Lister with AsseSQL [15]. Their tool has been in use for over a decade and has received positive student feedback.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

SQL tester: an online SQL assessment tool and its impact

Kleerekoper

Schofield

2018

Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Learning SQL can be surprisingly difficult, given the relative simplicity of its syntax. Automated tools for teaching and assessing SQL have existed for over two decades. Early tools were only designed for teaching and offered increased feedback and personalised learning, but not summative assessment. More recently, however, the trend has turned towards automated assessment, with learning as a side-effect. These tools offer more limited feedback and are not personalised. In this paper, we present SQL Tester, an online assessment tool and an assessment of its impact. We show that students engaged with SQL Tester as a learning tool, taking an average of 10 practice tests each and spending over 4 hours actively engaged in those tests. A student survey also found that over 90% of students agreed that they wanted to keep trying practice tests until they got a "good" mark. Finally, we present some evidence that taking practice tests increased student achievement, with a strong correlation between the number of practice tests a student took and their score on the assessed test.

show abstract

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

SQL tester: an online SQL assessment tool and its impact

Kleerekoper

Schofield

2018

Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…SQL is essentially a declarative language that allows users to specify what they want and not how to obtain it. The declarative nature of SQL is difficult for learners to grasp because the execution process of SQL statements is invisible to learners [5]- [7]. Therefore, when learning to compose an SQL query, learners must visualise the initial datasets obtained from the 'from' clause and mentally evolve them into the intermediate datasets and then into the resultant dataset.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Renaud and van Biljon [6] mentioned that learners must have an appropriate understanding of what exactly is happening when SQL queries are executed. Prior and Lister [5] found that learning SQL is particularly difficult if learners cannot understand the evolution process of the intermediate datasets of SQL queries. To alleviate difficulties in learning SQL, some learning tools have been proposed, such as animated pedagogies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structured Query Language Learning: Concept Map-Based Instruction Based on Cognitive Load Theory

Shin

2020

IEEE Access

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Structured query language (SQL) is difficult to master because the execution process of SQL statements is invisible. When learning to construct an SQL query, learners must visualise the evolution process of the intermediate datasets of the SQL statement in working memory, which may burden learners' cognitive load and consequently jeopardise learning outcomes. This study describes the execution process of SQL statements by using concept maps to improve learners' understanding of SQL. An empirical experiment was conducted using two database courses, namely concept map-based and conventional instruction, to examine the relationship between concept maps and the understanding of SQL from a cognitive load theory perspective. The experimental results demonstrated the superiority of concept mapbased instruction over conventional instruction because concept map-based instruction reduces extraneous load but increases germane load. Concept map construction facilitated learner engagement and promoted meaningful learning. Studying the instructors' concept maps helped learners follow the cognitive structures used by instructors to perform SQL queries, and enabled them to perceive the execution process of SQL queries relatively easily. These results potentially help educators understand the learning difficulties caused by the declarative nature of SQL and motivating researchers to resolve the inherent problem by considering learners' cognitive processes. INDEX TERMS Structured query language (SQL), cognitive load theory, concept maps, semantic network theory.

show abstract