KANDJIMI, HERMAN and SULEMAN, HUSSEIN (2024) Investigating Markov Model Accuracy in Representing Student Programming Behaviours, Proceedings of South African Computer Science and Information Systems Research Trends(SAICSIT 2024), 15 – 17 July 2024, Gqeberha, South Africa, Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS), 2159, 62–78, Springer Nature Switzerland.
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Abstract
Problem-solving skills are an integral component within the computer science field. Due to the diversity brought about by students following different learning and programming behaviours, it is challenging to track and identify when students get overwhelmed while writing programs. When students are overwhelmed, they are unable to complete learning objectives on time and follow prescribed pathways, depriving them of the opportunity to learn new concepts. In this paper, we developed and evaluated the quality of Markov models that encode student programming behaviours based on the evolution of source code submissions during formative practical assignments. In doing so, we use Abstract Syntax Trees (ASTs) extracted from the source code, which are used for clustering similar submissions and tracking students’ progressive approaches within the Markov models. An approach based on MinHashLSH is presented that works on AST nodes as input to emphasise structural similarity and related programming approaches. As such, the effectiveness of the Modified MinHashLSH approach is based on the clusters that make up the Markov model. The research result shows that we can successfully create a high-quality model based on previous data. This model result could be used to inform the development of learning interventions that would move students from their stuck states.
| Item Type: | Conference paper |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Problem-solving Programming Markov Model Source-Code Evolution Clustering Model evaluation |
| Subjects: | Information systems > Information retrieval > Retrieval tasks and goals > Clustering and classification Social and professional topics > Professional topics > Computing education > Computing education programs > Computer science education |
| Date Deposited: | 07 Aug 2025 08:47 |
| Last Modified: | 07 Aug 2025 08:47 |
| URI: | https://pubs.cs.uct.ac.za/id/eprint/1738 |
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