Exploring how students perform in a theory of computation course using final exam and homework assignments data

Abstract

Computer Science (CS) students continue to struggle in Theory of Computation (ToC) courses and empirical research continues to be required that is investigating this situation. In order to gain a differentiated picture and to learn more about potential challenges that CS students face when studying ToC, we used an exploratory data analysis to examine student performance in an undergraduate ToC course. In particular, we used final exam results and homework assignment scores to explore our research field and to develop hypotheses about it comparable to qualitative approaches. Our results indicate that despite their finale grade all students were particularly challenged by formal proof assignments covering ToC concepts. These results bolster the evidence of a need for pedagogical approaches in ToC that address all students and are particularly focused on teaching them formal proof techniques within this domain.