Student Paths in CS1: Case Studies of Initial Poor Performers

With the high influx of computer science enrollment in universities in the last decade, there is increasing value and wide-reaching effects in improving pedagogy in the field. This improvement is especially useful in introductory computer science courses (CS1). Student experience in the first programming course is known to heavily influence students' desires to stay in the field.

We present a set of student case studies that were enrolled in COMPSCI 101, an introductory computer science course at Duke University in fall of 2018. These case studies consist of students all with a poor initial performance in the course. We then consider their overall grade and help-seeking behavior in terms of what kind of help was sought and how often they sought help throughout their entire time in the course. We found no consistencies across any of the case studies.