“I also find students get more engaged when they get quicker feedback.”

Equipping Community College Students with Real-World Tech Skills at Ivy Tech

Angela Venable, an Assistant Professor at Ivy Tech’s School of IT, has long been committed to equipping her students with the skills they need to excel in the tech industry. Teaching courses like Data Structures, which is a crucial part of the Computer Science program, Angela encountered a major challenge: how to grade efficiently and provide meaningful feedback to her students, while also maintaining high academic standards. Her solution came in the form of CodeGrade, a platform that has improved both her teaching and her students’ experience.

The Challenges Faced

Before discovering CodeGrade, Angela struggled with the inefficiencies of grading. As a software engineer, she quickly realized that the manual grading process was consuming an overwhelming amount of her time.

After trying other autograding systems, she was frustrated by the lack of customization and flexibility they offered. “So many autograding systems that I’d encountered were very much you do our assignment. You do it exactly this one way and if you don’t do it that way, it’s all wrong,” she shares.

This lack of adaptability was particularly problematic, as Angela valued academic integrity and frequently created new, original assignments. She needed a platform that allowed her to offer fresh challenges to her students without the fear that answers were readily available online.

The Search for a Solution

Angela’s main requirement when searching for a platform was customization—both in terms of assignments and grading. She needed a tool that would align with her teaching style and the department’s mission to prepare students for real-world coding environments.

“We wanted something that wasn’t just here’s a wiki page over a piece of content and then here’s a problem... that students can easily find answers to elsewhere,” she says. She also valued the flexibility for other faculty members in her department, who had different teaching methods.

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The Transition to CodeGrade

The shift to CodeGrade was smooth for Angela, she was easily able to adapt her tests and grading process to the new system.

The seamless integration with GitHub further enhanced the process, allowing students to submit their code directly from their repositories, where they already practiced version control. “It’s a really nice seamless integration that I can’t say enough about. It’s really great. I think it’s easy to overlook it,” Angela shares.

Key Features That Benefit Students and Teachers

Angela uses autotesting extensively in her course, but she’s quick to point out that it’s not about doing the grading for her. “I use the autotesting. For a lot of people, it’s going to do my work as a professor for me. And for me, that’s not what it is. Autotesting for me is an early feedback mechanism for students,” she explains.

This feedback helps students see where their code is failing and allows them to revise their work before the actual deadline.

The integration with GitHub is a cornerstone of the department’s focus on industry-level tools. Angela’s students regularly commit and sync their code to GitHub, which is then pulled into CodeGrade for assessment. This practice prepares students for real-world workflows and aligns with the department's push to give students exposure to tools like Git.

While autotesting is essential, Angela still values manual grading for assignments that go beyond basic tests. She appreciates how CodeGrade allows for a combination of autotesting and manual grading, with rubrics that give her the flexibility to evaluate complex aspects of coding projects.

Quizzes are another powerful tool, offering a confined space for students to demonstrate their understanding of coding concepts. Angela incorporates multiple-choice and coding questions in the quizzes, and students see immediate feedback on their work, which helps them learn and make improvements.

Benefits to Students

CodeGrade has directly contributed to the success of Ivy Tech’s students. Angela shares that the feedback loop and opportunity to revise assignments before deadlines have improved student outcomes, particularly for students with procrastination habits.

“I’ve had a few students that have told me ADHD, they’re heavy procrastinators and the way that I set my due dates and the fact that they can get feedback beforehand has changed some of their habits,” she explains.

Moreover, CodeGrade helps maintain academic integrity, which is vital in ensuring that students truly grasp the material. It has also played a role in preparing students for higher academic pursuits. Angela proudly points to the success rate of Ivy Tech graduates who transfer to four-year institutions, stating, “They told us that for the transfer students that come over to them, they have a 100% completion rate in their bachelor's program, which is pretty impressive.”

Benefits to Teachers

From a teacher’s perspective, CodeGrade has been a game-changer in terms of efficiency. Before adopting CodeGrade, Angela spent up to eight hours grading a single assignment.

Now, with the help of automated grading, her feedback turnaround time is significantly faster, giving her more time to focus on teaching and less time spent on administrative tasks. The reduction in grading time has also alleviated stress, allowing Angela to maintain a healthier work-life balance.

Conclusion

Angela Venable’s experience with CodeGrade has had a profound impact on both her teaching and her students’ learning experiences. The platform’s customization, flexibility, and seamless integration with GitHub have made it the ideal solution for her data structures course. 

With the help of CodeGrade, Angela has created an environment where students receive rapid feedback, are encouraged to revise their work, and are better prepared for both industry and further academic study.

To learn more about how Angela sets up her Data Structures course, click here.

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