Just-in-time teaching improves engagement and academic results among students at risk of failure in computer science fundamentals

One of the desirable features of quality teaching is individualized attention to students. In this work we present a teaching innovation of individualized support called Just-in-Time-Teaching (JiTT). We describe a pilot experience conducted in a laboratory group and two control groups of the Computer Science Fundamentals subject of bachelor's degrees in industrial engineering at the Barcelona East School of Engineering [EEBE] of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in the first semester of 2016-2017 academic year. In this subject it has been observed that students tend to do fewer exercises than are required. They usually do them in the vicinity of the exams rather than throughout the course, and this has an impact on their learning and their academic performance. The aim of the experience was therefore to improve academic performance and student satisfaction, and to reduce absenteeism. In the JiTT group, exercises were collected via a virtual campus and assessed before the next laboratory class. Data of the university entrance grade, age and origin of the students were collected. The results are presented and compared with the those obtained in the control groups. Significant improvements were found in the final grades and in student satisfaction with the teaching, and absenteeism was reduced. In conclusion, this is a promising method that promotes individualized teaching at a reasonable cost for the teaching staff.