@inproceedings{0cf93061cfd64c03905b9aeff4089a16,
title = "Mining data from the AP CS A exam: Patterns, non-patterns, and replication failure",
abstract = "To better understand the learning and assessment of introductory computer science, we performed five complementary analyses on over 28 thousand student responses from the 2004 and 2009 Advanced Placement Computer Science (AP CS) A exams. Analyzing the questions from the 1988 AP CS exam, Reges hypothesized that a small set of questions, which were highly correlated with success on the rest of the exam, might be used to assess students' CS ability before taking a CS class. The pattern Reges observed was not replicated on the 2004 and 2009 AP CS A exams. Our hypotheses for why the pattern was not replicated advances Reges' alternative hypothesis regarding the importance of students' mental model of program execution.",
keywords = "Advanced placement computer science, Bloom's taxonomy, CSl, Difficult topics, Mental models of program execution., Novice programmers, Program state, Question difficulty, Recursion",
author = "Lewis, {Colleen M.} and Huda Khayrallah and Amy Tsai",
year = "2013",
language = "English (US)",
isbn = "9781450322430",
series = "ICER 2013 - Proceedings of the 2013 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research",
pages = "115--122",
booktitle = "ICER 2013 - Proceedings of the 2013 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research",
note = "9th Annual International Computing Education Research Conference, ICER 2013 ; Conference date: 12-08-2013 Through 14-08-2013",
}