Web-Based Collaborative Learning in CS1: A Study on Outcomes of Peer Code Review

Abstract

Based on a teacher-organized student-to-student code review session, we gathered both quantitative and qualitative data from 177 first-semester Information Technology undergraduate students to learn about their thoughts, experiences and outcomes from collaborative learning through an online tool in an introductory programming course. The students were given a programming exercise to solve using JavaScript in a Web-based IDE facilitating real time code sharing for peerevaluation of code based on five provided evaluation criteria: naming of artifacts in the code, formatting of code, use of data types, use of execution flow, and other comments. In the survey questionnaire, we employed a five-point Likert scale with an additional text field for qualitative feedback. For the qualitative free-text based answers, thematic coding was carried out to identify recurring themes and topics in the students’ answers. Based on the students’ feedback, our results indicate that the majority of the participants had positive experiences resulting in self-reported learning through collaborative work, peer-evaluation and problem solving.