How (not) to write an introductory programming exam

null Simon; Judy Sheard; Daryl D'Souza; Mike Lopez; Andrew Luxton-Reilly; Iwan Handoyo Putro; Phil Robbins; Donna Teague; Jacqueline Whalley

How (not) to write an introductory programming exam

Simon, Judy Sheard, Daryl D'Souza, Mike Lopez, Andrew Luxton-Reilly, Iwan Handoyo Putro, Phil Robbins, Donna Teague, Jacqueline Whalley

Department of Human Centred Computing

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Research › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The computing education literature shows some recent interest in summative assessment in introductory programming, with papers analysing final examinations and other papers proposing small sets of examination questions that might be used in multiple institutions as part of a benchmarking exercise. This paper reports on a project to expand the set of questions suitable for use in benchmarking exercises, and at the same time to identify guidelines for writing good examination questions for introductory programming courses – and, by implication, practices to avoid when writing questions. The paper presents a set of ten questions deemed suitable for use in the exams of multiple courses, and invites readers to use the questions in their own exams. It also presents the guidelines that emerged from the study, in the hope that they will be helpful to computing educators writing
exams for their own courses.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 17th Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2015)
Editors	Katrina Falkner, Daryl J. D'Souza
Place of Publication	Sydney NSW Australia
Publisher	Australian Computer Society Inc
Pages	137-146
Number of pages	10
Volume	160
ISBN (Electronic)	9781921770425
Publication status	Published - 2015
Event	Australasian Computing Education Conference 2015 - Sydney, Australia Duration: 27 Jan 2015 → 30 Jan 2015 Conference number: 17th https://dblp.org/db/conf/ace/ace2015.html (Proceedings)

Publication series

Name	Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology Series
Volume	160
ISSN (Print)	1445-1336

Conference

Conference	Australasian Computing Education Conference 2015
Abbreviated title	ACE 2015
Country/Territory	Australia
City	Sydney
Period	27/01/15 → 30/01/15
Other	ACE is held in conjunction with Australasian Computer Science Week (ACSW).
Internet address	https://dblp.org/db/conf/ace/ace2015.html (Proceedings)

Keywords

Assessment
Benchmarking
CS1
Examination
Introductory programming

Access to Document

287672141-oaFinal published version, 238 KB

http://crpit.scem.westernsydney.edu.au/confpapers/CRPITV160Simon.pdf

Cite this

Simon, Sheard, J., D'Souza, D., Lopez, M., Luxton-Reilly, A., Putro, I. H., Robbins, P., Teague, D., & Whalley, J. (2015). How (not) to write an introductory programming exam. In K. Falkner, & D. J. D'Souza (Eds.), Proceedings of the 17th Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2015) (Vol. 160, pp. 137-146). (Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology Series; Vol. 160). Australian Computer Society Inc. http://crpit.scem.westernsydney.edu.au/confpapers/CRPITV160Simon.pdf

Simon, ; Sheard, Judy ; D'Souza, Daryl et al. / How (not) to write an introductory programming exam. Proceedings of the 17th Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2015). editor / Katrina Falkner ; Daryl J. D'Souza. Vol. 160 Sydney NSW Australia : Australian Computer Society Inc, 2015. pp. 137-146 (Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology Series).

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abstract = "The computing education literature shows some recent interest in summative assessment in introductory programming, with papers analysing final examinations and other papers proposing small sets of examination questions that might be used in multiple institutions as part of a benchmarking exercise. This paper reports on a project to expand the set of questions suitable for use in benchmarking exercises, and at the same time to identify guidelines for writing good examination questions for introductory programming courses – and, by implication, practices to avoid when writing questions. The paper presents a set of ten questions deemed suitable for use in the exams of multiple courses, and invites readers to use the questions in their own exams. It also presents the guidelines that emerged from the study, in the hope that they will be helpful to computing educators writingexams for their own courses.",

keywords = "Assessment, Benchmarking, CS1, Examination, Introductory programming",

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Simon, , Sheard, J, D'Souza, D, Lopez, M, Luxton-Reilly, A, Putro, IH, Robbins, P, Teague, D & Whalley, J 2015, How (not) to write an introductory programming exam. in K Falkner & DJ D'Souza (eds), Proceedings of the 17th Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2015). vol. 160, Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology Series, vol. 160, Australian Computer Society Inc, Sydney NSW Australia, pp. 137-146, Australasian Computing Education Conference 2015, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 27/01/15. <http://crpit.scem.westernsydney.edu.au/confpapers/CRPITV160Simon.pdf>

How (not) to write an introductory programming exam. / Simon, ; Sheard, Judy; D'Souza, Daryl et al.
Proceedings of the 17th Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2015). ed. / Katrina Falkner; Daryl J. D'Souza. Vol. 160 Sydney NSW Australia: Australian Computer Society Inc, 2015. p. 137-146 (Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology Series; Vol. 160).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Paper › Research › peer-review

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Simon , Sheard J, D'Souza D, Lopez M, Luxton-Reilly A, Putro IH et al. How (not) to write an introductory programming exam. In Falkner K, D'Souza DJ, editors, Proceedings of the 17th Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2015). Vol. 160. Sydney NSW Australia: Australian Computer Society Inc. 2015. p. 137-146. (Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology Series).

How (not) to write an introductory programming exam

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this