Student log analysis functions for web-based programming education support tool pgtracer

Abstract

We are developing a programming education support tool pgtracer as a plug-in of well-known Web-based Learning Management System Moodle. Pgtracer provides fill-in-the-blank questions composed of a C++ program and a trace table to students. When a student answers a question by filling the blanks, pgtracer automatically collects student’s answers, required time, evaluation result, etc. as student log. In this paper, we propose and evaluate seven analysis functions of the student log. The student log analysis functions are classified into the analysis functions of a student, those of a question, and those of an answering process. A teacher can analyze achievement level of the students and difficulty level of the problems utilizing the analysis functions. Some of the functions are also provided to the students as student feedback functions. We perform a preliminary evaluation of the analysis functions against two teachers teaching computer programming to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed functions. We also perform an evaluation experiment at an actual class and demonstrate usability of the student feedback functions. The two teachers and more than 80% of the students positively appreciate the proposed functions through our survey evaluation.