Examining the Gap Between Students Self-reported Confidence and their Comprehension of Course Material
Research Mentor(s)
Jagodzinski, Filip
Description
Previous studies have explored student self-reported confidence in several STEM fields. Most studies gather students’ self-reported confidence before and after an exam. In this study we focus solely on Computer Science students, and prompt them to self-report their confidence on each question during midterm and final exams. The goal of this research is to understand the gap between a student’s confidence and their mastering of a topic based on question performance. We also explore whether or not students can more accurately predict their confidence during the final exam compared to the midterm due to exposure of confidence prompts over the course of a term. We evaluated the exams to determine groupings based on question type. When conducting analysis we used Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to examine how confidence correlates with the correctness of the groupings. Our findings show that students more accurately reported their confidence on the final exam, compared to the midterm, for questions involving variables, functions, writing code and reading code. Furthermore, based on our analysis of the final exam, students were less accurate at reporting their confidence for questions involving loops and conditionals.
Document Type
Event
Start Date
16-5-2018 9:00 AM
End Date
16-5-2018 12:00 PM
Department
Computer Science
Genre/Form
student projects, posters
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
College students--Attitudes; Science--Study and teaching (Higher); Self-confidence
Type
Image
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Examining the Gap Between Students Self-reported Confidence and their Comprehension of Course Material
Previous studies have explored student self-reported confidence in several STEM fields. Most studies gather students’ self-reported confidence before and after an exam. In this study we focus solely on Computer Science students, and prompt them to self-report their confidence on each question during midterm and final exams. The goal of this research is to understand the gap between a student’s confidence and their mastering of a topic based on question performance. We also explore whether or not students can more accurately predict their confidence during the final exam compared to the midterm due to exposure of confidence prompts over the course of a term. We evaluated the exams to determine groupings based on question type. When conducting analysis we used Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to examine how confidence correlates with the correctness of the groupings. Our findings show that students more accurately reported their confidence on the final exam, compared to the midterm, for questions involving variables, functions, writing code and reading code. Furthermore, based on our analysis of the final exam, students were less accurate at reporting their confidence for questions involving loops and conditionals.