A Lab-Based Approach for Introductory Computing that Emphasizes Collaboration


Event Details
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Talk:
4:00 p.m., Avery 115

Reception:
3:30 p.m., Avery 348

Henry Walker, Ph.D.

Professor, Grinnell College

Abstract

In introductory computer science at Grinnell College, students complete about 47 laboratory exercises, and I lecture about 4 hours per month (mostly in 5-10 minute segments). Students prepare for most class meetings by reading new materials (available on the Web). During class, students work in pairs at a workstation on exercises that involve solving problems, writing new code or revising existing code, experimenting, and writing explanations. The person at the keyboard changes at least daily, and I assign new partners weekly. As teacher, mentor, and coach, my role is to visit student pairs frequently to clarify ideas, identify difficulties, and offer directions for solution. In addition to working collaboratively on labs and lab write-ups, students work individually on selected programming problems (assigned as homework) and on tests. Altogether, the approach pushes actively learning to an extreme, and our experience suggests that this pedagogy allows us to cover about 20% more material than our traditional approach (with separate lectures and labs), and our students perform better on tests. The approach also seems to help student recruitment and retention. On the down side, an instructor beginning this approach must develop (write, borrow, adapt) all 47 labs.

Speaker Bio