Evaluating Digital Worksheets with Interactive Programming Exercises for K-12 Education

This Research Full Paper presents insights from digital worksheets with embedded interactive programming exercises tailored for high-school students new to programming. Computer science teachers often incorporate existing videos, quizzes, and practical programming exercises from Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). However, teachers' options to adapt the content to their specific needs are currently limited. Based on a qualitative survey with thirteen teachers, we developed a software prototype which allows teachers to create their own interactive worksheets consisting of texts, videos, quizzes, and practical programming exercises. Additionally, teachers can embed and further customize existing exercises from MOOCs. Further, we enable teachers to gain deeper insights by providing results from automated submission analysis, thus uncovering knowledge gaps and fostering content-driven in-class discussions. Our evaluation shows that the concept was well received by students and teachers alike: Teachers noticed the possibility of a shift in their role from a lecturing instructor to an individual tutor, as students arc enabled to learn at their own pace and receive specific, direct feedback based on automated unit tests. Interactive worksheets, as an integrated part of digital education, thus foster informed teacher interventions as part of an individualized student learning process.