Is The Computer The Medium And The Message? A Comparison Of Student VB Programming Performance In Three Delivery Modes

Abstract

As a third stage of research on delivery of a popular programming course at Metropolitan State College of Denver, the authors gathered data from an online section of CIS Application Programming with Visual Basic, two interactive classroom deliveries in campus smart classrooms, and in two traditional lecture-based sections of the course. The authors had previously completed research which showed significant differences in student ability to apply concepts learned in online sections and classroom sections of the Visual Basic programming class. The addition of interactive classrooms on campus allowed them to reexamine the relationship between performance and style of delivery.  The three modes of delivery--1) Web 2) Interactive Classroom and 3) Traditional Classroom--provided a rich source of data on student ability to apply theory. Data was gathered on a lab exam, a three phase semester-long programming project, and essay/coding problems on three in-class exams.  

Data from the five sections of the Visual Basic course were analyzed. Although the results were not as conclusive as the authors had hoped, an analysis of variance showed significant differences in one of the three measurements of students ability to apply theory— the programming project.  A Fisher's pairwise comparison indicated that the Internet students performed significantly lower than students receiving the traditional classroom or interactive instruction method. The attrition rate for the Internet section was more than twice that of the other modes of delivery. Although the Interactive Classroom mode of delivery was not found to be significantly different, students did score slightly higher. All sections of the course used the same syllabus and assignments; the instructors used common examinations and rubrics for grading student assignments.  

The authors conclude that an interactive environment, within an instructor-led "smart classroom ", is preferable to Web based delivery, and perhaps the traditional lecture-based method of delivering programming classes. This style of delivery is more apt to produce a student who can apply theory and produce working code.  As evidenced by performance on projects and subjective tests, students who participated in the interactive classroom sections were better able to apply programming theory to new situations. The authors caution that while traditional classroom delivery methods are well-established, Web courses and the interactive classrooms are still in their infancy. Further research is needed to verify their conclusions.