Volume 11, Number 3

What the Instructor Can Learn by Recording Students’ Desktop Screens in Online Programming Classes

  Authors

Keiichi Takahashi, Kindai University, Japan

  Abstract

In programming courses, instructors need to know the status of students during exercise sessions because they often make mistakes while creating programs. This study analyses desktop screens recorded by thirdyear students in a web programming course at Kindai University in Japan, categorizes the problems, and proposes content and methodological improvements for learning through online lectures. The results of the experiment revealed that (a) the students watched the lecture video at half the screen size, (b) it was difficult to rewind the video, and (c) even though students faced difficulties in completing the task, they decided not to ask questions and worked on the same problem for more than 30 minutes. While most previous studies have used questionnaire-based surveys, this study demonstrates that instructors viewing recorded desktop screens of students can identify issues that students may not be aware of on their own.

  Keywords

Video-Based Learning, Typing Error, Faculty Development