Assessing the Effectiveness of Programmed Instruction and Collaborative Peer Tutoring in Teaching Java

Students in two Java programming classes completed an individualized tutoring system that taught a simple applet program. Before and after using the tutor, students completed questionnaires that assessed software self-efficacy and understanding of general programming principles. The questionnaires also were administered following a lecture session on the program that included having the students successfully run the applet in a browser on the Web. For the second class, a collaborative peer tutoring session based on the applet program occurred between completion of the tutor and the lecture session. Students in both classes increased in software self-efficacy and program understanding across the assessment occasions. For students in the second class, correct answers on the final test of understanding were higher than observed in the first class. Collaborative peer tutoring used in combination with a programmed instruction tutoring system may potentiate learning for novitiate students.