A Statistical Analysis of Drop Rates in Introductory Computer Science by Gender and Partial Grade
Jikai Long, Brian E. Harrington · 2019
University level introductory computer science courses have a notoriously high drop rate. Many students who aim to pursue CS education fail to complete their first semester. This trend holds across a wide variety of institutions, courses, and countries. In this study, we collect data from over 4000 students enrolled in an introductory course over a 5 year period in order to analyze potential factors that affect which students are more likely to drop the course. In particular, this work focuses on gender, international student status, and course performance up to the drop date.