A feedback-oriented platform for deliberate programming practice

Abstract

In many areas it has been shown that performing carefully selected and focused tasks with increasing levels of difficulty, and receiving immediate feedback, accelerates the learning process. This is known as deliberate practice and it is undoubtedly applicable to programming. However, it is hard to implement: monitoring the behavior of a subject and quickly giving useful feedback requires resources that are typically scarce (instructors, teaching assistants, etc.). Furthermore, grading and giving feedback are typically combined into a single activity, leading to results that are not necessarily useful for improvement. In this teaching tip and courseware note we describe the platform that we developed to address this problem by enabling students to perform programming assignments while following the guidelines of deliberate practice.