Exploring students learning behavior with an interactive etextbook in computer science courses.

We present empirical findings from using an interactive electronic textbook (eTextbook) system named OpenDSA to teach sophomore- and junior-level Computer Science courses. The web-based eTextbook infrastructure allows us to collect large amounts of data that can provide detailed information about students’ study behavior. In particular we were interested in seeing if the students will attempt to manipulate the electronic resources so as to receive credit without deeply going through the materials. We found that a majority of students do not read the text. On the other hand, we found evidence that students voluntarily complete additional exercises (after obtaining credit for completion) as a study aid prior to exams. We determined that visualization use was fairly high (even when credit for their completion was not offered). Skipping to the end of slideshows was more common when credit for their completion was offered, but also occurred when it was not. We measured the level of use of mobile devices for learning by CS students. Almost all students did not associate their mobile devices with studying. The only time they accessed OpenDSA from a mobile device was for a quick look up, and never for in depth study.