VEAP: A visualisation engine and analyzer for PreSS#

Computer science courses have been shown to have a low rate of student retention. There are many possible reasons for this, and our research group have had considerable success in pinpointing the factors that influence outcome when learning to program. The earlier we are able to make these predictions, the earlier a teacher can intervene and provide help to an at-risk student, before they fail and/or drop out. PreSS (Predict Student Success) is a semi-automated machine learning system developed between 2002 and 2006 that can predict the performance of students on an introductory programming module with 80% accuracy, after minimal programming exposure. Between 2013 and 2015, a fully automated web-based system was developed, known as PreSS#, that replicates the original system but provides: a streamlined user interface; an easy acquisition process; automatic modeling; and reporting. Currently, the reporting component of PreSS# outputs a value that indicates if the student is a "weak" or "strong" programmer, along with a measure of confidence in the prediction. This paper will discuss the development of VEAP: a Visualisation Engine and Analyser for PreSS#. This software provides a comprehensive data visualisation and user interface, that will allow teachers to view data gathered and processed about institutions, classes and individual students, and provides access to further user-defined analysis, to allow a teacher to view how an intervention could influence a student's predicted outcome.