2018 GitHub Education Classroom Report

2018 Classroom
Report
Courtney Hsing and Vanessa Gennarelli
GitHub Education
education.github.com

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Summary
1. Using GitHub (versus not using GitHub) in programming classes predicted greater positive
learning outcomes.
• Students felt more prepared for being a part of the developer community and creating a
portfolio of their work.
• Students felt more prepared for future internships and career, and learned more about
collaboration, popular industry tools, and project management.
2. Using GitHub (versus not using GitHub) in programming classes predicted a greater sense of
belonging, a variable important to academic success.
• Students felt a greater sense of belonging both in the classroom and in the field.

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Summary (continued)
2. Students who received (versus did not receive) feedback via GitHub benefited more from
teacher feedback.
• Students felt they used their teachers’ feedback more effectively and found their teachers’
feedback more helpful.
• Students felt their teachers were more aware of their needs as a student.
• Students felt they used their peers’ feedback more effectively and found their peers’
feedback more helpful.
3. Students needed more support from teachers and peers when learning to use GitHub.
• About a quarter of students felt they received less support than they needed from teachers,
and about a third of students felt they received less support than they needed from peers.

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Method

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Survey design overview
Participants
• Both users and non-users of GitHub participated
• We emailed students with currently active student coupons
• We emailed teachers who applied for the teacher discount either for personal repositories or
for free organization
Survey eligibility
• Must have taken or taught a class with a programming component this past semester
Two versions of the survey
• Student version
• Teacher version

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Respondents overview
Student Survey Teacher Survey
Number of respondents
7530 (37.2% used
GitHub in classroom)
300 (67.0% used
GitHub in classroom)
Response rate 1.6% 1.7%
Completion rate 82.1% 85.0%
Excluding respondents who quit
before naming a course to think about
for the survey

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Respondent characteristics:
Year in school
7.8%
12.5%
15.4%
33.7%
1.2%
1.3%
2.3%
5.1%
3.3%
17.4%
College Freshman
College Sophomore
College Junior
College Senior
HS Freshman
HS Sophomore
HS Junior
HS Senior
Non-traditional student
Other
Year in school What year in school was the average
student in your course?
8.2%
20.4%
17.0%
17.0%
2.0%
1.4%
6.1%
5.8%
2.0%
20.1%

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Gender
8.5%
90.0%
1.0% 0.5%
Female
Male
Non-binary
Prefer to self describe
6.9%
91.5%
0.8%
0.8%

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Race and ethnicity
Select all that apply
1.2%
5.7% 7.0%
0.8% 0.8%
3.7%
86.1%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Black or of
African
descent
East Asian Hispanic or
Latino/Latina
Middle
Eastern
Native
American,
Pacific
Islander, or
Indigenous
Australian
South Asian White or
European
descent
Select all that apply
3.4%
15.8%
9.1%
5.1%
1.0%
19.2%
54.1%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Black or of
African
descent
East Asian Hispanic or
Latino/Latina
Middle
Eastern
Native
American,
Pacific
Islander, or
Indigenous
Australian
South Asian White or
European
descent

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Which programming language(s) did you use
in your course? (Select all that apply)
Which programming language(s) did students
use in your course? (Select all that apply)
28.9% 28.3%
26.0%
18.0%
36.2%
10.1%
29.8%
8.6% 8.5%
21.0%
19.4%
17.1%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
30.9%
32.9%
31.2%
17.0%
29.2%
11.9%
29.5%
10.5%
9.2%
14.9%
13.9%
28.8%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Programming languages

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Learning Outcomes:
Preparation for the future

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Using GitHub (versus not using GitHub) in programming classes predicted greater positive
learning outcomes.
• Preparation for the future
• Students felt more prepared for being a part of the developer community and creating a
portfolio of their work.
• Students felt more prepared for future internships and career, and learned more about
collaboration, popular industry tools, and project management.
• The number of GitHub features used in the classroom positively predicted learning
outcomes for students.
Preparation for the future:
Key takeaways

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1
2
3
4
5
Teamwork and
collaboration
Popular industry
tool(s)
Project
management
Very much
Very little
Rate how much you have learned about each of the
following through [course] this past semester:
Rate how much your students have learned about each
of the following through [course] this past semester:
1
2
3
4
5
Teamwork and
collaboration
Popular industry
tool(s)
Project
management
GitHub versus non GitHub classrooms

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11%
7%
19%
31%
32%
30%
15%
19% 20%
17%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
1 2 3 4 5
Very little Very much
Rate how much you have learned about each of the following through [course] this past semester: Teamwork and collaboration
Student Survey

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6%
8%
23%
34%
29%
24%
18%
22%
23%
14%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
1 2 3 4 5
Rate how much you have learned about each of the following through [course] this past semester: Popular industry tool(s)
Student Survey

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9%
11%
23%
32%
25%
29%
18%
21%
20%
12%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
1 2 3 4 5
Rate how much you have learned about each of the following through [course] this past semester:
Project management
Student Survey

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Rate how much [course] has prepared
you for each of the following
your students for each of the following
1
2
3
4
5
Future
internship or
career
Being a part of
the developer
community
Developing a
portfolio of
your work
Taking more
advanced
courses
Very much
Very little
1
2
3
4
5
Future
internship or
career
Being a part of
the developer
community
Developing a
portfolio of your
work
Taking more
advanced
courses
ns
ns

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5%
7%
19%
35%
33%
14% 14%
24%
29%
19%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
1 2 3 4 5
Rate how much [course] has prepared you for each of the following: Future internship or career
Student Survey

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8%
10%
20%
33%
31%
24%
19%
21% 22%
14%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
1 2 3 4 5
Rate how much [course] has prepared you for each of the following: Being a part of the developer community
Student Survey

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10% 11%
20%
28%
30%
24%
19%
20%
22%
15%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
1 2 3 4 5
Rate how much [course] has prepared you for each of the following: Developing a portfolio of your own work
Student Survey

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Rate how much [course] has prepared you for each of the following: Taking more advanced courses
6% 6%
20%
33%
36%
9% 9%
19%
32% 32%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
1 2 3 4 5
Student Survey

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1
2
3
4
5
Fewer features (-1SD) More features (+1SD)
Very much
Very little
Teamwork and collaborations
Project management
Preparation for future internship/career
Preparation for being part of the developer community
1
2
3
4
5
Fewer features (-1SD) More features (+1SD)
Very much
Very little
Teamwork and collaborations
Project management
Preparation for future internship/career
Preparation for being part of the developer community
you for each of the following
your students for each of the following

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Learning Outcomes:
Classroom experience

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Using GitHub (versus not using GitHub) in programming classes predicted greater positive learning
outcomes.
• Overall, students and teachers felt using GitHub in the classroom improved rather than worsened
students’ learning experience.
• Although implementation of GitHub in the classroom had no effect on teachers’ reports of student
engagement, participation, and attendance, using GitHub in the classroom predicted slightly higher
student ratings across the three variables.
• Students who used GitHub in the classroom tend to like their class more and put more effort into the
class than students who did not use GitHub in the classroom. Students who used GitHub in the
classroom were also more likely to recommend their class to others and take similar courses in the
future.
• Students in GitHub (versus non GitHub) classrooms felt more competent. They were also more likely
to feel like they have the skills necessary to do well and satisfied with their performance in the class.
Classroom experience:
Key takeaways

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0% 2% 2%
12%
31%
34%
20%
52%
23%
8%
14%
2% 2% 0%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Not at all Very much
How m
GitHub
improv
learnin
How m
GitHub
worsen
learnin
Does using GitHub in the classroom improve or worsen the learning experience?
2% 1% 1%
16%
26% 27% 28%
68%
10%
3%
11%
3% 2% 3%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Not at all Very much
How much has using
GitHub in [course]
improved your learning
experience?
How much has using
GitHub in [course]
worsened your learning
experience?

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Rate yourself for each item below
1
2
3
4
5
Level of
engagement in
course
Level of
participation in
course
Class attendance in
course
Very High
Very Low 1
2
3
4
5
Level of engagement
in course
Level of participation
in course
Class attendance in
course
ns ns ns
Rate each item below based on your general
impression (of students) this past semester

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1%
4%
13%
42% 41%
2%
6%
14%
37%
42%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Very low Slightly low Neither low nor
high
Slightly high Very high
Rate how much you have learned about each of the following through [course] this past semester: Level of engagement
Student Survey

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1%
4%
14%
38%
43%
2%
6%
15%
34%
43%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
high
Rate how much you have learned about each of the following through [course] this past semester: Your level of participation in [course]
Student Survey

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Rate how much you have learned about each of the following through [course] this past semester: Your class attendance in [course]
Student Survey
3%
6%
14%
27%
51%
5%
7%
14%
21%
53%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
high

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1
2
3
4
5
Liking Effort
High
Low
Both liking and effort variables were composite scores
of multiple items:
Use your general impression of [course] to rate the items
below
1 (Not at all true) to 5 (Very true)
•Liking:
•I enjoy [course] very much.
•[Course] holds my attention very well.
•I would describe [course] as very interesting.
•Effort:
•I put a lot of effort into [course]
•It’s important to me to do well in [course]
•I put a lot of energy into [course]
Student Survey

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Use your general impression of [course] to
rate the items below
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
I would recommend [course] to
other students
I would take a course similar to
[course] in the future
Strongly agree
Strongly disagree
Student Survey

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1% 2%
3%
6%
15%
33%
40%
4% 4%
5%
9%
17%
31% 31%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Somewhat
disagree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Somewhat
agree
Agree Strongly agree
Use your general impression of [course] to rate the items below: I would recommend [course] to other students
Student Survey

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2% 3% 4%
8%
14%
30%
40%
5% 4% 5%
9%
16%
27%
34%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Somewhat
disagree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Somewhat
agree
Use your general impression of [course] to rate the items below: I would take a course similar to [course] in the future
Student Survey

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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
After being in [course]
for a while, I feel pretty
competent
I am satisfied with my
performance in
[course]
I have the skills
necessary to do well in
[course]
Very true
Not at all true
Student Survey

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Use your general impression of [course] to rate the items below: After being in [course] for a while, I feel pretty competent
2% 2%
5%
19%
21%
26% 26%
3% 4%
6%
21% 20%
25%
21%
0%
10%
20%
30%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Not at all true Very true
Student Survey

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2% 2%
6%
15%
19%
26%
31%
3% 3%
7%
17% 17%
26%
28%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Use your general impression of [course] to rate the items below: I am satisﬁed with my performance in [course]
Student Survey

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1% 1%
3%
12%
17%
28%
38%
1% 2%
4%
14%
16%
25%
38%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Use your general impression of [course] to rate the items below: I have the skills necessary to do well in [course]
Student Survey

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Sense of Belonging

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Using GitHub (versus not using GitHub) in programming classes predicted a greater
sense of belonging, a variable important to academic success.
• Students felt greater belonging both in the classroom and in the field.
• This finding could be related to several other findings from this study:
1. On average, there was greater emphasis on group assignments in GitHub (versus non
GitHub) classrooms. Working more closely and cooperatively with peers may have
boosted students’ sense of belonging in the classroom.
2.Students in GitHub (versus non GitHub classrooms) felt more prepared for being part
of the developer community, and felt they learned more about popular industry tools.
These effects may have directly contributed to students’ sense of belonging in the
field.
Sense of belonging:
Key takeaways

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Both Belonging in class and Belonging in ﬁeld variables were
composite scores of multiple items:
Use your general impression of [course] to rate the items below
1 (Strongly disagree) to 7 (Strongly agree)
•Belonging in class:
•My contributions in [course] are valued
•I feel comfortable in [course]
•People in [course] accept me
•Belonging in ﬁeld:
•I see myself as part of the developer community
•I feel that I am a member of the developer community
•I feel a sense of belonging to the developer community
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Belonging in class Belonging in field
High
Low
Student Survey
Sense of belonging:

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Student Survey
16%
12%
21%
51%
20%
17%
25%
37%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Agree or strongly
agree with 0
Agree or strongly
agree with 1
Agree or strongly
agree with 2
Agree or strongly
agree with all 3
Out of the students who responded to all 3 statements, percentage
of students who either agreed or strongly agreed with zero, one,
two, or all three statements Belonging in class:
Use your general impression of [course] to rate
the items below
•My contributions in [course] are valued
•I feel comfortable in [course]
•People in [course] accept me
Sense of belonging:

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1%
2% 3%
12%
20%
37%
26%
3%
5% 6%
17%
21%
32%
17%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Somewhat
disagree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Somewhat
agree
Use your general impression of [course] to rate the following: My contributions in [course] are valued
Student Survey
Sense of belonging:

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0% 1%
3%
7%
17%
39%
32%
1% 2%
4%
9%
18%
37%
28%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Somewhat
disagree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Somewhat
agree
Use your general impression of [course] to rate the following: I feel comfortable in [course]
Student Survey
Sense of belonging:

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0% 1%
2%
11%
15%
39%
33%
1% 1%
2%
16% 15%
36%
29%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Somewhat
disagree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Somewhat
agree
Use your general impression of [course] to rate the following: People in [course] accept me
Student Survey
Sense of belonging:

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Belonging in ﬁeld:
•I see myself as part of the developer
community
•I feel that I am a member of the
developer community
•I feel a sense of belonging to the
developer community
Student Survey
32%
10% 10%
48%
45%
10%
8%
37%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Agree or strongly
agree with 0
Agree or strongly
agree with 1
Agree or strongly
agree with 2
Agree or strongly
agree with all 3
Out of the students who responded to all 3 statements, percentage
of students who either agreed or strongly agreed with zero, one,
two, or all three statements
Sense of belonging:

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1%
3%
4%
13%
20%
33%
27%
3%
5%
7%
16%
21%
27%
21%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Somewhat
disagree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Somewhat
agree
Use your general impression of [course] to rate the following: I see myself as part of the developer community
Student Survey
Sense of belonging:

View Slide

1%
3%
4%
14%
21%
31%
25%
4%
6% 7%
17%
22%
25%
19%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Somewhat
disagree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Somewhat
agree
Use your general impression of [course] to rate the following: I feel that I am a member of the developer community
Student Survey
Sense of belonging:

View Slide

Use your general impression of [course] to rate the following: I feel a sense of belonging to the developer community
1%
3%
4%
14%
21%
32%
26%
3%
6% 7%
18%
22%
25%
20%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Somewhat
disagree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Somewhat
agree
Student Survey
Sense of belonging:

View Slide

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Belonging in class Belonging in field
High
Low
Less familiar with GitHub
than peers
As familiar or more familiar
with GitHub than peers
Sense of belonging:
Familiarity with GitHub
Student Survey

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Feedback

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Students who received (versus did not receive) feedback via GitHub benefited
slightly more from feedback
•Students felt they used their teachers’ feedback more effectively and found their
teachers’ feedback more helpful.
•Students felt their teachers better understood their needs as a student.
•Students felt they used their peers’ feedback more effectively and found their
peers’ feedback more helpful.
Feedback:
Key takeaways

View Slide

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
I
understand
the
instructor's
feedback
I pay
attention to
the
instructor's
feedback
I use the
instructor's
feedback
effectively
I find the
instructor's
feedback
helpful
The
instructor
understands
my needs as
a student
Strongly agree
Strongly disagree
Used GitHub to provide feedback
Did not use GitHub to provide
feedback
ns ns
Use your general impression of the instructor’s feedback to rate the items below:
Feedback
Student Survey

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Student Survey
Use your general impression of the instructor’s feedback to rate the items below: I use the instructor’s feedback eﬀectively
1% 1%
3%
6%
13%
36%
38%
3%
1% 1% 2%
8%
17%
37%
30%
5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Somewhat
disagree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Somewhat agree Agree Strongly agree I don't
know/Not sure
Did not use GitHub to provide feedback
Feedback

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Student Survey
Use your general impression of the instructor’s feedback to rate the items below: I ﬁnd the instructor’s feedback helpful
0% 1%
3%
5%
14%
38% 37%
2%
2% 2%
4%
7%
17%
34%
31%
4%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Somewhat
disagree
Neither agree
nor disagree
know/Not sure
Feedback

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Student Survey
Use your general impression of the instructor’s feedback to rate the items below: The instructor understands my needs as a student
1% 2% 2%
6%
18%
33%
36%
4%
2% 3% 4%
9%
18%
32%
28%
5%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Somewhat
disagree
Neither agree
nor disagree
know/Not sure
Feedback

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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
I
understand
feedback
from peers
I pay
attention to
feedback
from peers
I use
feedback
from peers
effectively
I find
feedback
from peers
helpful
Strongly agree
Strongly disagree
Did not use GitHub to provide
feedback
ns ns
Feedback
Student Survey

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Student Survey
Use your general impression of your peers’ feedback to rate the items below: I use feedback from peers eﬀectively
1% 0%
2%
6%
15%
39%
34%
3%
1% 1%
3%
10%
18%
40%
23%
4%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Somewhat
disagree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Somewhat
agree
Agree Strongly agree I don't
know/Not sure
Feedback

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Student Survey
Use your general impression of your peers’ feedback to rate the items below: I ﬁnd feedback from peers helpful
1% 1% 1%
6%
13%
43%
32%
4%
2% 1% 2%
9%
16%
38%
29%
4%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Strongly
disagree
Disagree Somewhat
disagree
Neither agree
nor disagree
Somewhat
agree
Agree Strongly agree I don't
know/Not sure
Feedback

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Learning GitHub

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Students need more support from teachers and peers when learning to use GitHub.
• About a quarter of students felt they received less support than they needed from
teachers, and about a third of students felt they received less support than they needed
from peers.
• Because student respondents felt they were generally more familiar with GitHub than
their peers at the beginning of the semester, it is likely that the average student felt they
received even less support than student respondents.
• First-time users, compared to non ﬁrst-time users, felt learning to use GitHub was slightly
more diﬃcult.
Learning GitHub:
Key takeaways

View Slide

Learning GitHub
49%
36%
13%
3%
1%
2%
14%
54%
26%
4%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Not at all
familiar
Slightly
familiar
Moderately
familiar
Very familiar Extremely
familiar
How familiar were your
students with GitHub at
the beginning of the
semester?
How familiar are your
students with GitHub
now?
8%
21%
26%
29%
15%
0% 0%
22%
49%
26%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Not at all
familiar
Slightly
familiar
Moderately
familiar
Very familiar Extremely
familiar
How familiar were you
with GitHub at the
beginning of the
semester?
How familiar are you with
GitHub now?

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Learning GitHub
30%
27% 28%
14%
1%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
1 2 3 4 5
Easy Difficult
How easy or difficult was it to learn how to
use GitHub?
8%
24%
29%
34%
6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
1 2 3 4 5
Easy Difficult
How easy or difficult was it for the average
student in [course] to learn how to use
GitHub?

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Learning GitHub
31%
27% 27%
13%
1%
17%
26%
34%
22%
1%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Easy Difficult
How easy or difficult was it to learn how to use
GitHub?
Non first-time user
First-time user
Student Survey

View Slide

Learning GitHub
10%
15%
55%
13%
8%
12%
20%
47%
15%
6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Too little
support
Just the right
amount of
support
Too much
support
Describe the amount of support you received from each of the
following as you were learning GitHub
[course] teachers
[course] peers
1%
11%
59%
19%
6% 5%
9%
19%
45%
13%
1%
13%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Too little
support
Just the right
amount of
support
Too much
support
I don't
know/not sure
Describe the amount of support students received on average from
each of the following as they were learning GitHub
[course] teachers
[course] peers

View Slide

education.github.com

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2018 GitHub Education Classroom Report

2018 GitHub Education Classroom Report

@mozzadrella

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