On the Bimodality in an Introductory Programming Course: An Analysis of Student Performance Factors

In this work, the student performance in an introductory programming course given at the department of information technology at Uppsala University is analyzed. The results from the final exam are studied and the potential bimodality of the distribution is investigated. A questionnaire, answered by the students at the final exam, including study behavior and potential connections to the performance at the final exam is analyzed. Our findings indicate that the amount of time students spend coding is the factor that has the highest impact on the results of the exam. And a seemingly bimodal distribution of the final grades appears to depend on the correction procedure rather than the distribution of the results of the exam. We introduce the concept theory-on-demand to indicate how theory can be introduced to support students´ learning during practical lab work.