Investigating the Affect and Effect of Adaptive Parsons Problems

In a Parsons problem the learner places mixed-up code blocks in the correct order to solve a problem. Parsons problems can be used for both practice and assessment in programming courses. While most students correctly solve Parsons problems, some do not. Unsuccessful practice is not conducive to learning, leads to frustration, and lowers self-efficacy. Ericson invented two types of adaptation for Parsons problems, intra-problem and inter-problem, in order to decrease frustration and maximize learning gains. In intra-problem adaptation, if the learner is struggling, the problem can dynamically be made easier. In inter-problem adaptation, the next problem's difficulty is modified based on the learner's performance on the last problem. This paper reports on the first observational studies of five undergraduate students and 11 secondary teachers solving both intra-problem adaptive and non-adaptive Parsons problems. It also reports on a log file analysis with data from over 8,000 users solving non-adaptive and adaptive Parsons problems. The paper reports on teachers' understanding of the intra-problem adaptation process, their preference for adaptive or non-adaptive Parsons problems, their perception of the usefulness of solving Parsons problems in helping them learn to fix and write similar code, and the effect of adaptation (both intra-problem and inter-problem) on problem correctness. Teachers understood most of the intra-problem adaptation process, but not all. Most teachers preferred adaptive Parsons problems and felt that solving Parsons problems helped them learn to fix and write similar code. Analysis of the log file data provided evidence that learners are nearly twice as likely to correctly solve adaptive Parsons problems than non-adaptive ones.