ONE-A-DAY PROBLEMS FOR IMPROVING STUDENT LEARNING AND STUDY HABITS

Abstract

At the University of Waterloo, Mechatronics Engineering students take their first programming course in their first academic term. In 2016, Waterloo introduced a two-day long fall break immediately following the Thanksgiving weekend. The fall break back-to-back with their midterm week means students have as many as 18 days between programming lectures. The breaks also interrupt the schedule of weekly assignments that provide students’ primary means of practicing programming.

In an attempt to mitigate any negative effects of the break on those students who are not experienced programmers and may not know how to use their time effectively, "One-a-Day Problems" were tried. Students were expected to work on that one problem for the day, which was expected to take roughly 30-minutes to complete, and were encouraged to contact the instructor or other members of the teaching team with any questions or concerns. The problems remained available on the LMS throughout the term and no solutions to these problems were posted on the LMS.

Students enjoyed receiving extra practice problems using this format, and engaging with these questions resulted in higher performance on both the midterm and final exam. Engagement with the problems was lower than desired, however, especially with students with no prior programming experience.