How Do Students Select an Algorithm Design Technique?

Background and Context: Computer science students must learn the skill of selecting an appropriate algorithm design technique for a given algorithm design problem. Despite the topic's significance, there is little research to improve student performance. Objective: We are studying the student thinking process while selecting an appropriate algorithm for a given algorithm design problem. In this paper, we studied student behaviors while finding a solution to an algorithm design problem. Method: We conducted an hour-long think-aloud interview with students who had taken an Advanced Algorithms course and observed their behavior while generating a solution for a given problem. Findings: Analyzing the interviews, we found twelve common behaviors students engaged in while selecting an algorithm for a given problem. Our results show that most students experimented with given examples and thought of existing techniques for given questions. The behaviors most strongly associated with success were identifying sub-problems and connecting to similar problems, but students did not engage in these behaviors as often as they should. Implications: We proposed the three steps that could be useful for students to follow, which could be used by the instructor to teach students in a systematic way to identify the correct algorithm. Our findings show which behaviors are mostly strongly associated with success, and which seem useful are insufficient on their own for success.