Social learning and scaffolding to improve student's self-efficacy and engagement

Abstract

The majority of Computer Science courses frequently use out-ofclass activities to promote skill-building. Yet, the shortcomings of these activities limit their applicability in improving students' skills. This poster presents an innovative mobile-app-based approach to engage students in out-of-class activities. The app Dysgu builds on the theories of social learning and enables instructors to break regular out-of-class activities into smaller and interactive entities with instructional scaffolding. Dysgu allows students to compare their progress with their peers and provides personalized notifications and feedbacks to keep students engaged. The goal is to improve student's self-efficacy and engagement in out-of-class activities.