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Failure rates in introductory programming

Published: 01 June 2007 Publication History

Abstract

It is a common conception that CS1 is a very difficult course and that failure rates are high. However, until now there has only been anecdotal evidence for this claim. This article reports on a survey among institutions around the world regarding failure rates in introductory programming courses. The article describes the design of the survey and the results. The number of institutions answering the call for data was unfortunately rather low, so it is difficult to make firm conclusions. It is our hope that this article can be the starting point for a systematic collection of data in order to find solid proof of the actual failure and pass rates of CS1.

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Published In

cover image ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
ACM SIGCSE Bulletin  Volume 39, Issue 2
June 2007
158 pages
ISSN:0097-8418
DOI:10.1145/1272848
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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 June 2007
Published in SIGCSE Volume 39, Issue 2

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Author Tags

  1. CS1
  2. failure rate
  3. introductory programming
  4. pass rate

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