teaching tips, best practices, and other initiatives to improve cs education dan garcia, ph.d....
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Teaching Tips, Best Teaching Tips, Best Practices, and Other Practices, and Other
Initiatives to Improve CS Initiatives to Improve CS EducationEducation
Dan Garcia, Ph.D.Dan Garcia, Ph.D.Lecturer SOE, EECS Dept, UC BerkeleyLecturer SOE, EECS Dept, UC Berkeley(on Sabbatical in Melbourne until 2008)(on Sabbatical in Melbourne until 2008)
www.cs.berkeley.edu/~ddgarcia/www.cs.berkeley.edu/~ddgarcia/
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OverviewOverview Quickie backgroundQuickie background SIGCSE plugSIGCSE plug
This talk from 3 in 2007This talk from 3 in 2007 ACE2008 in ACE2008 in
WollongongWollongong Improving CS Improving CS
educationeducation Teaching TipsTeaching Tips
Best Practices from Best Practices from survey of US schoolssurvey of US schools
ACM Education BoardACM Education Board
TipsTips1. …1. …
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Teaching Tips ArchiveTeaching Tips Archive
Goal: Gather great CS teaching tips on a Goal: Gather great CS teaching tips on a wikiwiki 4 seasoned educators seeded with 10 tips 4 seasoned educators seeded with 10 tips
eacheach Categories : Categories : Lecturing, Office (hrs), Staff, Lecturing, Office (hrs), Staff,
Exams, Labs, Section, Projects, Grading, Exams, Labs, Section, Projects, Grading, MetaMeta
www.cs.berkeley.edu/~ddgarcia/teaching/tips/www.cs.berkeley.edu/~ddgarcia/teaching/tips/
QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
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DDan Garciaan GarciaUC BerkeleyUC Berkeley
OOwen Astrachanwen AstrachanDuke UnivDuke Univ
NNick Parlanteick ParlanteStanford UnivStanford Univ
SStuart Regestuart RegesU WashingtonU Washington
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Share Your CS Passion Share Your CS Passion (Lecture)(Lecture)
For each of these, feel For each of these, feel free to shout “Amen, free to shout “Amen, Brother!”, and why it did / Brother!”, and why it did / didn’t work for youdidn’t work for you
I show SIGGRAPH I show SIGGRAPH animations before every animations before every lecturelecture I talk about opportunities I talk about opportunities
for students to join my for students to join my graphics group (UCBUGG)graphics group (UCBUGG)
The videos are available The videos are available for $40/video to ACM for $40/video to ACM membersmembers
www.siggraph.org/publications/video-review/ucbugg.berkeley.edu/
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Team-teach Team-teach (Meta)(Meta) Rather than having a single Rather than having a single
lecturer / TA cover every lecturer / TA cover every lecture / section, if two can lecture / section, if two can attend each other's sections, attend each other's sections, pair up & alternate weeks.pair up & alternate weeks. ON week they do everything ON week they do everything
(TAs would cover both secs)(TAs would cover both secs) OFF week they sit in the ON’s OFF week they sit in the ON’s
first section, as an observer, first section, as an observer, taking notes of how well the taking notes of how well the ON TA did, and debrief afterON TA did, and debrief after
TAs Buddy TA in weeks 2 TAs Buddy TA in weeks 2 through n-1 (not first and through n-1 (not first and last)last)
Learn tips from Learn tips from each othereach other!! Can avoid stuff you hate Can avoid stuff you hate
doing (that co-inst may doing (that co-inst may enjoy)enjoy)
gsi.berkeley.edu/resources/discussion/fiveways.html“Classroom Observation:
The Observer as Collaborator”–LuAnn Wilkerson
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Clickers & Peer Instruction Clickers & Peer Instruction (Lecture)(Lecture)
We instituted them in We instituted them in our lower-div classesour lower-div classes Cost: ~$40/clickerCost: ~$40/clicker
Two pricing models, Two pricing models, subscription or purchasesubscription or purchase
Midway through lecture, Midway through lecture, ask “concept test”ask “concept test”
Students vote w/clickerStudents vote w/clicker 2 min peer instruction 2 min peer instruction
time with neighbortime with neighbor– Must reach consensusMust reach consensus
““Team” votes againTeam” votes again We discuss answersWe discuss answers
Real-time feedback!Real-time feedback! Can ask real-time Q!Can ask real-time Q!
A: 1B: 4C: 42
?
mazur-www.harvard.edu/research/detailspage.php?ed=1&rowid=8 www.interwritelearning.com/products/prs/
www.einstruction.com
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Empower TAs Empower TAs (Staff)(Staff) Ask TAs teach a lectureAsk TAs teach a lecture Have TAs and readers help Have TAs and readers help
write, beta-test, grade write, beta-test, grade examsexams
Let TAs participate in Let TAs participate in syllabus discussionssyllabus discussions
Open your life to your staffOpen your life to your staff Share cell numbers (great Share cell numbers (great
for emergencies)for emergencies) Grade exam at your homeGrade exam at your home Take your admins out to a Take your admins out to a
fancy lunch every termfancy lunch every term
inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs61c/www.chezpanisse.com
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Enlightened Grading Enlightened Grading (Grading)(Grading)
Absolute grading, bump up Absolute grading, bump up at the end but never downat the end but never down
Allow later exams to Allow later exams to replace earlier exam replace earlier exam grade(s)grade(s)
Give EPA! sprinkle pointsGive EPA! sprinkle points EffortEffort
How much student triedHow much student tried Office hours? Does all hw?Office hours? Does all hw?
ParticipationParticipation Does the person ask Qs in Does the person ask Qs in
lecture or discussion?lecture or discussion? AltruismAltruism
Helping others in lab / Helping others in lab / newsgroup / office hoursnewsgroup / office hours
EPA grades are EPA grades are hiddenhidden, and , and can boost up ~ 1/2 +- can boost up ~ 1/2 +- gradegrade
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Bring Laptops to Exams Bring Laptops to Exams (Exams)(Exams)
Visible timerVisible timer Interrupt vs polling!Interrupt vs polling!
Show exam bug Show exam bug corrections on screencorrections on screen ……and can fix right thereand can fix right there
Auto-announce time Auto-announce time leftleft echo 'say "You may echo 'say "You may
begin."' | begin."' | /usr/bin/osascript/usr/bin/osascript
sleep 1800 sleep 1800 # 1/2 hour# 1/2 hour echo 'say "Sorry for the echo 'say "Sorry for the
interruption... You have interruption... You have two hours left!"' | two hours left!"' | /usr/bin/osascript/usr/bin/osascript
… … etc …etc … plaympeg ./epilogue.mp3plaympeg ./epilogue.mp3
developer.apple.com/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man1/say.1.htmlhogbaysoftware.com/product/clockwork
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Conclusion, pt IConclusion, pt I I presented 6 “hidden” I presented 6 “hidden”
tips from our collectiontips from our collection LecturingLecturing Office (hrs)Office (hrs) StaffStaff ExamsExams LabsLabs SectionSection ProjectsProjects Grading Grading MetaMeta
As the Borg say:As the Borg say: Contribute your Contribute your
uniqueness to the uniqueness to the collective (our Wiki)collective (our Wiki)
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A Survey of Intro CS CurriculaA Survey of Intro CS Curricula
Jeff ForbesJeff ForbesDuke UnivDuke Univ
Dan GarciaDan GarciaUC BerkeleyUC Berkeley
Survey!
www.cs.berkeley.edu/~ddgarcia/teaching/introsurveywww.cs.berkeley.edu/~ddgarcia/teaching/introsurvey
Goal: Goal: Understand what top US PhD-Understand what top US PhD-granting schools did in their intro CS granting schools did in their intro CS curriculacurricula
Survey sent out, collected, results Survey sent out, collected, results presentedpresented Today I’ll talk about the best practices we Today I’ll talk about the best practices we
noticednoticed
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Schools (2006 “US News & Schools (2006 “US News & WR”)WR”)
1.1. CMUCMUMITMITStanfordStanfordUC BerkeleyUC Berkeley
5.5. CornellCornellUI Urbana-ChampaignUI Urbana-Champaign
7.7. U WashingtonU Washington8.8. PrincetonPrinceton9.9. UT AustinUT Austin
U Wisconsin-MadisonU Wisconsin-Madison11.11. Cal TechCal Tech
Georgia TechGeorgia Tech13.13. UC San DiegoUC San Diego
U Maryland - College U Maryland - College ParkPark
15.15. HarvardHarvardUCLAUCLA
15.15. U Michigan-Ann ArborU Michigan-Ann Arbor18.18. ColumbiaColumbia
Purdue - West LafayettePurdue - West LafayetteU PennU PennYaleYale
22.22. BrownBrownRiceRiceUNC - Chapel HillUNC - Chapel Hill
25.25. DukeDukeU Mass - AmherstU Mass - AmherstUSCUSC
28.28. Johns HopkinsJohns Hopkins29.29. NYUNYU
Rutgers - New Rutgers - New BrunswickBrunswickUC IrvineUC IrvineVirginiaVirginia
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What works really What works really wellwell and what is and what is brokenbroken??
BrownBrown High TA-student ratioHigh TA-student ratio Intro Experience DisparityIntro Experience Disparity
CalCal Closed required labsClosed required labs Undergrad teaching staffUndergrad teaching staff More pair programmingMore pair programming
CalTechCalTech CS11 is several minicourses.CS11 is several minicourses. Each student only takes 1 of Each student only takes 1 of
these a term (of their these a term (of their choice)choice)
A course can be repeated A course can be repeated three times for creditthree times for credit
CMUCMU All courses taught in small All courses taught in small
sections – no large lectures!sections – no large lectures!
CornellCornell DrJava demos during DrJava demos during
lecturelecture Closed required labsClosed required labs 1/2 Matlab, 1/2 Java1/2 Matlab, 1/2 Java
Georgia TechGeorgia Tech (Compared to peers) very (Compared to peers) very
low attritionlow attrition 90% success in Media CS290% success in Media CS2
No closed labsNo closed labs HarvardHarvard
Teacher trainingTeacher training PrincetonPrinceton
Appl to commerce, science, Appl to commerce, science, engineering w/real datasetsengineering w/real datasets
Too much to cover!Too much to cover! Huge increase in Huge increase in
enrollmentsenrollments
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What works really What works really wellwell and what is and what is brokenbroken??
PurduePurdue Lecture, labLecture, lab Hard to have creative projects Hard to have creative projects
but consistent gradingbut consistent grading RiceRice
Some want to move intro Some want to move intro Scheme course to JavaScheme course to Java
Easier later transitionEasier later transition But, wide background But, wide background
variety!variety! RutgersRutgers
Online examsOnline exams Java as intro language!Java as intro language!
StanfordStanford Undergrad section leadersUndergrad section leaders Staffing in computer cluster Staffing in computer cluster
while students work on while students work on assignments, which are goodassignments, which are good
We (all of us) still tuning CS1 We (all of us) still tuning CS1 JavaJava
UC IrvineUC Irvine Informatics curriculumInformatics curriculum
UCLAUCLA Getting students to program Getting students to program
to specsto specs Intro experience disparityIntro experience disparity
UCSDUCSD Accelerated intro course trackAccelerated intro course track Closed labsClosed labs Teaching memory allocation Teaching memory allocation
to beginnersto beginners UIUCUIUC
All courses!All courses! Undergrad-led reviewsUndergrad-led reviews Assembler EOS competitionAssembler EOS competition Programming studio structureProgramming studio structure Low-level understandingLow-level understanding New student communitiesNew student communities
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What works really What works really wellwell and what is and what is brokenbroken??
U PennU Penn Compelling programming Compelling programming
assignmentsassignments USCUSC
Intro experience disparityIntro experience disparity UT AustinUT Austin
Students move well through Students move well through CS2CS2
Java doesn’t allow them to Java doesn’t allow them to learn memory management!learn memory management!
One course is “geeked out” One course is “geeked out” which could turn off non-which could turn off non-programmersprogrammers
UWUW Procedures-first intro to OOPProcedures-first intro to OOP
U WisconsinU Wisconsin Information overloadInformation overload Reduce sources of infoReduce sources of info Active and collaborative Active and collaborative
learning!learning!
““Information overload has been Information overload has been mentioned repeatedly to me by mentioned repeatedly to me by students as a principle problem in students as a principle problem in many of their courses.many of their courses.
It is not uncommon for courses It is not uncommon for courses today to have a textbook or two, today to have a textbook or two, course notes, as well as lecture course notes, as well as lecture slides which overwhelm students slides which overwhelm students with presentations of the same or with presentations of the same or similar material.similar material.
Add to that course email, web Add to that course email, web pages/links, blogs, etc. and pages/links, blogs, etc. and students get trapped spending too students get trapped spending too much time reading and reviewing much time reading and reviewing and insufficient time actively and insufficient time actively applying their newly gained applying their newly gained knowledge.knowledge.
What has worked well for us is to What has worked well for us is to reduce the sources of information reduce the sources of information and to direct students’ efforts to and to direct students’ efforts to more active and collaborative more active and collaborative learning both in and out of classlearning both in and out of class.”.”
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What are the innovative techniques being What are the innovative techniques being deployed?deployed?
MITMIT Overhauling EECS curriculumOverhauling EECS curriculum
Had been unchanged for Had been unchanged for nearly 30 yearsnearly 30 years
6.001 (Scheme) out, 6.001 (Scheme) out, Python Python in!in!
6.01 and 6.02 to be new 6.01 and 6.02 to be new mandatory intro coursesmandatory intro courses Offer intro to deptOffer intro to dept Cut broadly across EECSCut broadly across EECS Strong hands-on componentStrong hands-on component Build robots, apply concepts Build robots, apply concepts
like radio, Fourier transform, like radio, Fourier transform, networks, large systemsnetworks, large systems
Then choose 3 or 4 subjects Then choose 3 or 4 subjects from foundation coursesfrom foundation courses E.g., Circuits, Signals, E.g., Circuits, Signals,
SystemsSystems
www.eecs.mit.edu/images/EECS_VI_Fall06_FINAL.pdfwww-tech.mit.edu/V126/N63/63course6.html
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What are the innovative techniques being What are the innovative techniques being deployed?deployed?
Georgia TechGeorgia Tech Computational Media degree!Computational Media degree! Different entry points to majorDifferent entry points to major
CS1 for different majorsCS1 for different majors RoboticsRobotics Media ComputationMedia Computation
FlexibilityFlexibility CS Majors can take any CS1CS Majors can take any CS1
ContextualizationContextualization CS1s are typically dry!CS1s are typically dry! Students today use flikr, Students today use flikr,
youtube, etc -- leverage that!youtube, etc -- leverage that! Allow the data to be THEIRSAllow the data to be THEIRS
movies, sounds, pixmovies, sounds, pix
www.cm.gatech.edu
Wil Justis, Milton HSWil Justis, Milton HS
Survey!
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What are the innovative techniques being What are the innovative techniques being deployed?deployed?
UC BerkeleyUC Berkeley UC-WISEUC-WISE
Web-based learning systemWeb-based learning system Interactive, collaborative & Interactive, collaborative &
assessmentassessment Decrease passive learning Decrease passive learning
in lecture (Old: 3 Lec, 2 Lab)in lecture (Old: 3 Lec, 2 Lab) Increase active learning in Increase active learning in
lab (New: 1 Lec, 6 Lab)lab (New: 1 Lec, 6 Lab) Top-down instructionTop-down instruction
Scheme, Java, C, AssemblerScheme, Java, C, Assembler Self-paced coursesSelf-paced courses
1-unit course for programmers 1-unit course for programmers in Matlab, Pascal, C, Scheme, in Matlab, Pascal, C, Scheme, Unix, C++, Java, PythonUnix, C++, Java, Python
Intro to programming in Intro to programming in SchemeScheme
Awesome undergrad tutors!Awesome undergrad tutors!
inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~selfpacewww.ucwise.org
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Conclusion, pt IIConclusion, pt II There is so much more There is so much more
analysis I didn’t present!analysis I didn’t present! It’s all online; I encourage It’s all online; I encourage
you to see our resultsyou to see our results There is some great There is some great
innovation in the US!innovation in the US! MIT, GaTech, UC Berkeley, MIT, GaTech, UC Berkeley,
Caltech, UIUC, …Caltech, UIUC, … It would be great to learn It would be great to learn
about the innovation about the innovation going on here to take going on here to take back with me!back with me!
Survey!
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ACM Education ActivitiesACM Education Activities The ACM Education The ACM Education
Board has three Board has three active task forcesactive task forces Pipeline Crisis, ImagePipeline Crisis, Image
This This waswas “enrollment” “enrollment” Technology and ToolsTechnology and Tools CurriculumCurriculum
As a member of the As a member of the Board, I want to learn Board, I want to learn what your problems what your problems are and are and how ACM how ACM could helpcould help!!
Education
acm.org/education
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One Take on EnrollmentOne Take on Enrollment
UC Berkeley Computer Science Annual Enrollment, 2002-present
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
CS3
CS61A
CS61B
CS61C
CS70
• Our numbers roughly half that of the 2000 peakOur numbers roughly half that of the 2000 peak
Education
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Response : Image SiteResponse : Image Site
Numbers across US Numbers across US half that of 2000half that of 2000 Some coming backSome coming back
Need for computing Need for computing professionals growingprofessionals growing
Computing image poorComputing image poor Nerds, no life, just Nerds, no life, just
codingcoding Computing Degrees & Computing Degrees &
CareersCareers site launched site launched Supplemental brochure Supplemental brochure
sent to all US high sent to all US high schoolsschools
computingcareers.acm.org
Education
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Technology and Tools Technology and Tools SiteSite
ProblemProblem Computing educators Computing educators
(newbies and vets) (newbies and vets) don’t know of all don’t know of all available classroom available classroom technology and tools technology and tools (too hard to keep up)(too hard to keep up)
Solution (still in beta)Solution (still in beta) Build site for themBuild site for them
Just links Just links w/commentsw/comments
What is missing?What is missing? Support Web 2.0Support Web 2.0
Ratings, tags, how it Ratings, tags, how it worked for you, etc.worked for you, etc.
Final Location: techtools.acm.orgCurrently: www.cs.berkeley.edu/~ddgarcia/techtools
Education
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Conclusion, pt IIIConclusion, pt III
Take-away messagesTake-away messages Teaching tipsTeaching tips
What are yours?What are yours? Contribute to our wikiContribute to our wiki
Best practicesBest practices What are yours?What are yours? Read survey for moreRead survey for more
ACM initiativesACM initiatives How could ACM help?How could ACM help? Talk to me about Talk to me about
issues!issues!
Let’s collaborate!Let’s collaborate!
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