Analyzing the impact of asynchronous multimedia feedback on novice computer programmers

For many engineering students, freshman programming represents one of the hardest courses for them to master. Unlike other science fields, few students are routinely exposed to programming in the K12 system. This can make the freshman programming course daunting. However, in the field of software engineering, success in this area is vital, as success in nearly all future courses requires mastery of this skillset. In the engineering field, we find that many students are visual learners. These students learn best by seeing, and they can perform very well in the classroom with the appropriate usage of teaching styles. However, when it comes to providing feedback to students on submitted assignments, the main method employed is the written comment, which is not conducive to visual learners. From a faculty member´s standpoint, this makes sense, as it is the simplest form of feedback. However, written feedback is often ineffective at improving student performance, as many students simply do not read the comments because the students feel they are not relevant to their performance. This can be compounded in the freshman year, as students are still learning what is meant to be an effective college student. At higher levels, an alternative feedback mechanism, namely asynchronous multimedia feedback, has shown great promise. In lieu of written feedback, students are provided feedback for software engineering exercises through the use of a short video made via video capture. The video captures in multimedia format the instructor´s perceptions and actions when grading a given assignment. The video shows, in real time, what the instructor saw, whether it is a program crashing or the successful operation of the program. Furthermore, it provides the instructor the ability to potentially fix simple blatant errors and see the instructor´s debugging strategy. The article describes the pedagogical foundation for the technique, specifics of the technique used, student perceptions of the technique, and an assessment of the learning gains from using such a method in an introductory freshman programming course. In general, students are show to prefer the technique versus traditional grading, and a statistically significant improvement in overall outcomes for the experimental course is shown to exist. A statistically significant correlation between the watching of videos and outcomes is also shown.