Computer programs may help predict students’ grades in school as well as determine successful pathways for completing assignments, finds a new Stanford University study.
Researchers looked at the performance of 370 undergraduate and graduate students in an elective introductory coding class. They tracked how students approached tasks—the size and frequency of a student’s code or the change in coding methods, for example—and compared students’ processes with their later course grades.
Computer-based prediction models that focused on students’ approaches to problem-solving more effectively predicted final grades than midterm test scores did. The study also identified common ways students accomplish assignments, which researchers said could be useful for offering widespread help to students struggling to complete open-ended tasks.
