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Open-Ended Exercises in CS1: The Impact on Female, Non-Major and Inexperienced Computer Science Students

Introductory Computer Science (CS1) is difficult for many (the course is notorious for its low student performance and retention rates), but some groups of students are especially disadvantaged such as female students (as CS is largely male-dominated), non-CS majors and students without prior programming experience. This poster discusses an attempt at engaging these disadvantaged subgroups through creative, open-ended exercises. Data was collected from a CS1 course with 284 students, where roughly half of the students completed exercises which included an open-ended aspect that allowed them to make their own decisions about their projects. The other half completed similar exercises but with a specifically defined, closed-ended checklist of requirements. The data analysis revealed several patterns that suggest the use of open-ended exercises can lead to higher levels of satisfaction and confidence among the different groups of traditionally disadvantaged students.