A formative study of influences on student testing behaviors

  • Authors:
  • Kevin Buffardi;Stephen H. Edwards

  • Affiliations:
  • Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA;Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 45th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
  • Year:
  • 2014

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Abstract

While Computer Science curricula teach students strategic software development processes, assessment is often product-instead of process-oriented. Test-Driven Development (TDD) has gained popularity in computing education, but evaluating students' adherence to TDD requires analyzing their development processes instead of only their final product. Consequently, we designed an adaptive feedback system for reinforcing incremental testing behaviors. In this paper, we compare the results of the system with different reinforcement schedules and with- or without- visually salient testing goals. We analyzed snapshots of students' programming projects gathered during development and interviewed students at the end of the academic term. From our findings, we identify potential for influencing student development behaviors and suggest future direction for designing adaptive reinforcement.