20.500.12556/RUL-176632 Practical programming exams with automated assessment improve student engagement and learning outcomes This study investigates the impact of introducing a mandatory practical programming exam on student learning outcomes in introductory programming courses. To facilitate structured coding practice and scalable automated feedback, we developed Programmers’ Interactive Virtual Onboarding (PIVO), a novel Automated Programming Assessment System (APAS). Traditional programming curricula often prioritize theoretical concepts, limiting practical coding opportunities and immediate feedback, resulting in poor skill retention and proficiency. By integrating mandatory practical assessments together with voluntary, self-driven programming tasks through PIVO, we aimed to enhance student engagement, programming proficiency, and overall academic performance. Results show a substantial reduction in failure rates following the introduction of the practical exam, and statistical analyses revealed moderate correlation between students’ voluntary engagement in non-mandatory coding exercises and their performance in both theoretical and practical examinations. These findings indicate an association among engagement in structured, automated practice assessments, algorithmic thinking, and problem-solving capabilities. programming education Automated Programming Assessment System (APAS) practical exam test-driven learning student engagement algorithmic thinking poučevanje programiranja Avtomatizirani sistem za preverjanje programiranja (APAS) praktični izpit testno vodeno učenje angažiranost študentov algoritmično razmišljanje true false true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2025-12-05 13:56:59 2025-12-05 13:57:02 2025-12-15 03:59:40 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2025 0 0 20 str. issue 11, art.1486 Vol. 15 Nov. 2025 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno apc 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 004.42:378 2227-7102 10.3390/educsci15111486 260230915 education-15-01486.pdf education-15-01486.pdf 1 3D73527C5999A7D2D960C7D9A0F12DDC fba518c67d0ff9b2a3ce8c292fad0a563ed009c3c895e49802dab0d315ccc148 9f25e370-d1d9-11f0-9328-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=223102 https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/11/1486 1 80aba4d6-d1d9-11f0-9328-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=223101 Fakulteta za elektrotehniko 0 0 0