The Effectiveness of Teams in Teaching COBAL Programming

AbstractA structured team approach in learning introductory COBOL programming was empirically assessed with a sample of 215 undergraduate business administration majors. For each assigned program, students in the experimental group read and critiqued team members' program listings. COBOL proficiency was measured by a final examination testing knowledge of language rules, ability to read a program, and the ability to write a program. Analysis of multiple covariance was used to statistically adjust test scores for age and conditional reasoning scores. For the program writing variable, a significant difference favoring the experimental group was found. The language rules variable showed no significant difference, while the reading variable did not satisfy the required assumptions of the proposed statistical model. However, the experimental group showed higher mean scores for both of these variables. The findings provide empirical support for incorporating team activities into the programming learning process to more effectively develop student proficiency in writing COBOL programs.