Improving Integrity in CS1 Course Using Formative Assessment and Version Control Tools

There are many grey areas in the interpretation of academic integrity in the course on Introduction to Programming, commonly known as CS1. Copying, for example, is a method of learning, a method of cheating and a reuse method in professional practice. Many institutions in India publish the code in the lab course manual. The students are expected to practice the programs in the manual and write them in the final examination without looking at the reference code. Many institutions apportion some marks for copying the program from the manual to record books. The system thus, inherently encourages copying. The student listens to the program’s explanation in the lecture, practices the same program in the lab, writes the same program in the record book and again studies the same program for the final examination conducted at the end of the semester. This process facilitates students, to some extent, to understand the concepts. However, a significant disadvantage of this system is that most students do not acquire the ability to write programs for authentic tasks. In the context of very rigid laboratory protocols that exist in CS1 courses across most of the Institutes in India, an additional lab protocol that focuses on students’ integrity can potentially improve the quality of learning. This article presents a method of using technology tools to improve integrity without disturbing the existing system.