How better feedback will prepare the tech talent of the future

I recently came across a journal article that drew my attention to the importance of feedback [3]. It explored how giving instant feedback on students’ code made an impact on their desire to continue studying and working in the field of Computer Science. While educational institutions are slowly taking this more seriously, CS degrees still suffer from a lack of quality formative teaching methods and resources. As someone who has personally struggled with getting the help I needed with my programming assignments, I wanted to know more.

The Information Technology sector is currently in desperate need of tech talent. According to U.S. labor statistics, there were 1.4 million unfilled computer science vacancies by the end of 2020 while there were only 400,000 graduates. This issue exists in part because a high percentage of CS students end up dropping out before receiving their degrees. The Higher Education Statistics Agency found that almost 10% of students enrolled in Computer Science degrees in the UK dropped out of their programs, the highest of any field of study. Of those students, 49% said they didn’t enjoy it and 33% said it was too hard.

“Why”, I thought, “is there such an exodus of students from Computer Science majors and why are they finding it so difficult?” In comparison to the unimaginably long nights slaving away on engineering coursework, or the mind-numbing dredge that is reading through Law or medicine textbooks, coding all day and checking Stack Overflow once in a while doesn’t sound too bad. 

Well, educators are finding that the metrics by which we once measured the success of high-school and university courses no longer sufficiently (at least not by themselves) explain student retention, learning success, and student satisfaction. A study by the Computing Research Association found that access to academic resources, the quality of technical content, and the availability of professors outside of class were the 3 things most likely to affect student satisfaction in Computer Science courses and, clearly, these factors are the biggest struggle for teachers too.