What is it about?
We asked students to predict their exam score both before and after they took the exam. Those that scored better were better at predicting their score. We saw no difference between men and women when it came to predicting their score. We also asked students how they studied and found no difference between men and women nor between those that scored well or poorly on the exam.
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Why is it important?
The point of this study was to understand if gender or a student's mastery of the material influenced how well a student could predict their exam score or what study techniques they used. Related work had mixed results in the differences between these things. So we still do not have a good sense what the relationship is for a particular context. This work added to our understanding for the context of introductory computer science.
Perspectives
It was gratifying to know that there was no difference when it came to gender. The difference between low and high performers on their ability to predict was not surprising. The most surprising result was how little students different in what study techniques they used between low and high performers. I suspect it's because the survey asked them what study techniques they used rather than how they decided what topics to study. The latter of which is more about metacognition.
Kristin Stephens-Martinez
Duke University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A Study of the Relationship Between a CS1 Student's Gender and Performance Versus Gauging Understanding and Study Tactics, March 2021, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3408877.3432365.
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