The influence of BASIC on performance in introductory computer science courses using Pascal

Abstract

Results are presented testing the hypothesis that knowledge of BASIC has a positive effect on performance in introductory Pascal courses. During the Fall 1985 term, two computer science courses were surveyed at the University of Illinois, and students' final course grades were analyzed based on their programming background. In CS 121 surveys were given out in both lecture sections, with students being expected to mail surveys back on their own. The largest lecture section of five was surveyed for CS 105. The surveys were distributed to students and collected at the end of class. The data for the course for computer science majors (CS 121, which is a requirement) show no grade differences based on prior background. The data for the course for non-majors (CS 105, which is only required for finance majors and is an alternate choice for a few others) show significantly higher grades for students with background in BASIC in comparison to students with no programming background.