Results from a Three-Year Transition to the Extreme Apprenticeship Method

Abstract

Although programming is the basis for many CS/IT-programmes, it is still often being taught using methods from the pre-book era. This paper describes a transition from traditional lecture-based approach to using the Extreme Apprenticeship method with an automated assessment service in teaching programming. The transition has led to a situation, where the course instructors feel their work as more meaningful and have more time for students. A comparison between a traditional lecture-based approach and the Extreme Apprenticeship method over the last 20 course instances shows a statistically significant improvement in the students' pass-rates, as well as in the amount of students that complete exercises during the final weeks of a programming course.