Using and sharing programming exercises to improve introductory courses (abstract only)

Short, automatically-assessed programming exercises, and other types of short practice problems, are a useful way to introduce and reinforce concepts and techniques in introductory programming courses. When delivered over the web, they allow students to learn and practice, with immediate feedback, at any time and place where they have access to a web browser. However, such exercises do not seem to be as widely used as they could be. Similarly, there is not a lot of literature on the effectiveness of these types of problems. The purpose of this BOF is to bring together users (and potential users) of programming exercises with developers of programming exercise systems to discuss how exercises could be used more widely and effectively. Possible discussion topics include: What features are absolutely essential for faculty to consider adoption? What are the major obstacles preventing more widespread adoption? Are faculty willing to share their exercises under an open/non-commercial license? Should exercises best used for extra practice, as graded assignments, or both?