Regresar

Effects of a hackathon on the motivation and grades of CS1 students

Abstract:

Many educational institutions have modified their curricula to include computational thinking and coding courses for all students. However, it is not always easy to engage non-CS students in coding. Hackathons are often suggested as tools for exposing people to fun real challenges, promoting alternative ways of learning and increasing their interest in coding, and CS in general. Thus we ask, could a hackathon be used specifically within a CS1 class to motivate students and boost their performance (measured in grades)? In this article, we analyze data from 1253 students before and after an educational hackathon, observing changes in motivation towards the class and ultimately the students' grades. We discovered that although there are variations in motivation and performance on those attending the Pyweekend, either as participants or attendants (general public), it is difficult to conclude that those variations are solely caused by the hackathon. We also include suggestions as how to extend this study to further understand the effects of hackathons on the motivation and grades of CS1 students.