Prior research has explored various demographic and psychological factors, however there remains a gap in understanding how specific course behaviors relate to students’ performance and how these behaviors are influenced by known demographic factors in introductory computer science courses (CS1). This study investigates the relationships between student characteristics, course behaviors, and performance in a CS1 course taught using a flipped classroom model.

We analyzed surveyed data from 410 engineering students, including gender, prior programming experience (PPE), grade point average (GPA), and learning self-efficacy (LSE). We examined four key course behaviors and attitudes: engagement with pre-class video lectures, self-reported class attendance, perceived availability of help, and perceived quality of in-class activities. We explored how these course behaviors and attitudes related to students’ exam performance and how they were influenced by student characteristics.

Analysis indicated significant positive relationships between students’ engagement with pre-class video lectures, perceived availability of help, and perceived quality of in-class activities with exam performance. Self-reported class attendance did not have a significant relationship with exam scores in this context. Notably, female students reported significantly greater engagement with pre-class video lectures than male students, while also reporting lower perceptions of available help. Students with higher GPAs tended to have lower engagement with pre-class videos, but perceived more available support and viewed in-class activities as more helpful.

These results provide insights for CS educators to understand the relation between factors known to be significant to students’ course performance (e.g., GPA) and the behaviors students exhibit in a flipped classroom setting.