Abstract
A controlled experiment comparing the first-year approaches of in-depth study of programming methodology to breadth of experience in programming and languages is described. The experiment involves two groups of students who will follow different paths in the freshman year which converge in the sophomore year. Performance of students from each group in the common sophomore courses will be analyzed. The efforts to reduce bias and the methods of measurement and analysis are described in detail.
- 1 See, for example, E. Yourdon, Techniques of Program Structure and Design (Prentice-Hall, Engelwood Cliffs, 1976) and references cited therein for evidence on this subject.Google Scholar
- 2 D. T. Cambell and R. F. Boruck, "Making the Case for Randomized Assignments to Treatments by Considering the Alternatives: Six Ways in which Quasi-Experimental Evaluations in Compensatory Education Tend to Underestimate Effects," in Evaluation and Experience: Some Critical Issues in Assessing Social Problems (Academic Press, New York, 1975).Google Scholar
- 3 D. T. Cambell and J. Stanley, Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research (Rand McNally, Chicago, 1966).Google Scholar
- 4 S. B. Anderson, S. Ball, and R. T. Murphy, Encyclopedia of Educational Evaluation, pp. 195-198 (Jossey-Bas, San Francisco, 1975).Google Scholar
- 5 A. C. Porter and T. R. Chibucos, "Selecting Analysis Strategies," in Evaluating Educational Programs and Policies, pp. 415-464 (Educational Technology, Engelwood Cliffs, 1974).Google Scholar
- 6 SIGCSE Bulletin 10, No. 1, 1978, pp. 107, 115, 119, 125.Google Scholar
Digital Library
- 7 Ibid, p. 118.Google Scholar
Index Terms
Breadth or depth in introductory computer courses: A controlled experiment
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