It's not them, it's us! why computer science fails to impress many first years

Rashina Hoda; Peter Andreae

doi:10.5555/2667490.2667509

It's not them, it's us! why computer science fails to impress many first years

Rashina Hoda, Peter Andreae

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

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

High attrition and failure in first year computer science and software engineering courses has often been linked to the personal traits and skills of students - dividing the world into those that "get it" and those "that don't". We present several concrete strategies based on the recently developed Learning Edge Momentum (LEM) theory, which when applied together, were found useful in reducing failure rates. Based on the our experiences, we challenge our current understanding of attrition and failure in first year courses and dare to claim that maybe it's not them, it's us that is the problem.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the Sixteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2014), Auckland, New Zealand, 20-23 January 2014
Editors	Jacqueline Whalley, Daryl D'Souza
Place of Publication	New York NY USA
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Pages	159-162
Number of pages	4
ISBN (Electronic)	9781921770319
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5555/2667490.2667509
Publication status	Published - 2014
Externally published	Yes
Event	Australasian Computing Education Conference 2014 - Auckland, New Zealand Duration: 30 Sept 2014 → 3 Oct 2014 Conference number: 16th https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.5555/2667490 (Proceedings)

Publication series

Name	Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology Series
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Volume	148
ISSN (Electronic)	1445-1336

Conference

Conference	Australasian Computing Education Conference 2014
Abbreviated title	ACE 2014
Country/Territory	New Zealand
City	Auckland
Period	30/09/14 → 3/10/14
Internet address	https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.5555/2667490 (Proceedings)

Keywords

Attrition and failure rates
Computer science
First year course
LEM theory
Software engineering

Access to Document

10.5555/2667490.2667509

Cite this

Hoda, R., & Andreae, P. (2014). It's not them, it's us! why computer science fails to impress many first years. In J. Whalley, & D. D'Souza (Eds.), Proceedings of the Sixteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2014), Auckland, New Zealand, 20-23 January 2014 (pp. 159-162). (Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology Series; Vol. 148). Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). https://doi.org/10.5555/2667490.2667509

Hoda, Rashina ; Andreae, Peter. / It's not them, it's us! why computer science fails to impress many first years. Proceedings of the Sixteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2014), Auckland, New Zealand, 20-23 January 2014. editor / Jacqueline Whalley ; Daryl D'Souza. New York NY USA : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2014. pp. 159-162 (Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology Series).

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booktitle = "Proceedings of the Sixteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2014), Auckland, New Zealand, 20-23 January 2014",

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Hoda, R & Andreae, P 2014, It's not them, it's us! why computer science fails to impress many first years. in J Whalley & D D'Souza (eds), Proceedings of the Sixteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2014), Auckland, New Zealand, 20-23 January 2014. Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology Series, vol. 148, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), New York NY USA, pp. 159-162, Australasian Computing Education Conference 2014, Auckland, New Zealand, 30/09/14. https://doi.org/10.5555/2667490.2667509

It's not them, it's us! why computer science fails to impress many first years. / Hoda, Rashina; Andreae, Peter.
Proceedings of the Sixteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2014), Auckland, New Zealand, 20-23 January 2014. ed. / Jacqueline Whalley; Daryl D'Souza. New York NY USA: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), 2014. p. 159-162 (Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology Series; Vol. 148).

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

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AB - High attrition and failure in first year computer science and software engineering courses has often been linked to the personal traits and skills of students - dividing the world into those that "get it" and those "that don't". We present several concrete strategies based on the recently developed Learning Edge Momentum (LEM) theory, which when applied together, were found useful in reducing failure rates. Based on the our experiences, we challenge our current understanding of attrition and failure in first year courses and dare to claim that maybe it's not them, it's us that is the problem.

KW - Attrition and failure rates

KW - Computer science

KW - First year course

KW - LEM theory

KW - Software engineering

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BT - Proceedings of the Sixteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2014), Auckland, New Zealand, 20-23 January 2014

A2 - Whalley, Jacqueline

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ER -

Hoda R, Andreae P. It's not them, it's us! why computer science fails to impress many first years. In Whalley J, D'Souza D, editors, Proceedings of the Sixteenth Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2014), Auckland, New Zealand, 20-23 January 2014. New York NY USA: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). 2014. p. 159-162. (Conferences in Research and Practice in Information Technology Series). doi: 10.5555/2667490.2667509

It's not them, it's us! why computer science fails to impress many first years

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

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Cite this