Prize-Based Learning in an Introductory Computer Course—A Case Study

Introduction to Computer Science is traditionally the first course that all computer science and software engineering majors take. The course introduces many problem-solving techniques which can be challenging for many freshman students. In order to mitigate some of the issues of this course, we, at the Higher Education Institute, introduced a new prerequisite course, Introduction to Programming Logic, which is a required course for all students who have not taken any previous computer science course. In the Summer Session of 2022, we included prize-based learning in one of the sections of the course. Prize-based learning is similar to both problem-based learning and project-based learning in many aspects, including the principle of student-centred learning. However, it differs with respect to the motivation for student success. This approach utilises the students' ambition to win, to encourage students to work harder and learn more both inside as well as outside the classroom.