With the increasing interest and enrollment in programming courses, educators must discover innovative and inclusive teaching methods to effectively cater to diverse learner needs and varying levels of prior knowledge. Introductory programming courses (CS1) can prove arduous for novices and insufficiently stimulating for those with experience, creating an educational dilemma. Striking a balance between students’ expectations and engagement becomes challenging for educators, especially given the expanding pre-higher education CS exposure.

To tackle this challenge, offering optional extra practice opportunities could aid students in mastering concepts, particularly those benefitting from rigorous practice. However, personal motivation and other factors may hinder their engagement, undermining potential benefits. To enhance engagement, providing a minor amount of extra credit as an extrinsic incentive might be effective.

In this context, students’ engagement with extra credit quizzes (ECQs) is influenced by various factors, with self-regulation and time management playing a pivotal role. This study delves into the correlation between students’ weekly ECQ submission time and their total quiz interactions. Specifically, it examines whether the timing of weekly ECQ submissions varies based on the number of quizzes engaged. The analysis also explores group discrepancies in submission times, considering factors like gender and prior programming experience (PPE) relative to ECQ engagement. Ultimately, these insights could reshape educational approaches to better address student needs.