End of Course Memo CS 101 – Intro to Computing Aaron Bloomfield (Spring 2005) Course Objectives: 1. Understand fundamentals of programming such as variables, conditional and iterative execution, methods, etc. 2. Understand fundamentals of object-oriented programming in Java, including defining classes, invoking methods, using class libraries, etc. 3. Be aware of the important topics and principles of software development. 4. Have the ability to write a computer program to solve specified problems. 5. Be able to use the Java SDK environment to create, debug and run simple Java programs. Assessment of Learning by Course-Objective: For the assessment of these objectives, I analyze the scores of the various course assignments (homeworks, exams, and programming quizzes). The first two midterms were very easy (averages of 86.8% and 85.4%, respectively), the third was fair (average of 75.2%). The homeworks were also very easy, and those grades were also inflated (the average on the homeworks was 94.6%). Objective 1: Understand fundamentals of programming such as variables, conditional and iterative execution, methods, etc. Evidence that this objective was met can be seen through the lab programming quizzes and the homeworks. The last lab quiz was the most comprehensive, as it included the concepts taught throughout the entire course (iteration, conditional statements, OOP, defining classes, writing a computer program to solve a program, using the JDK, etc.). The average on the last lab quiz, which was the most comprehensive, was 89.1%. The homework average was 94.6%, but as mentioned above, that number is inflated. Objective 2: Understand fundamentals of object-oriented programming in Java, including defining classes, invoking methods, using class libraries, etc. This objective was met, and the evidence is the same as that for objective 1. Objective 3: Be aware of the important topics and principles of software development. I do not feel we met this objective very well, and this is something I plan to change in the future. The only software development the students saw was for small Java programs, and that does not constitute this objective. In particular, I plan on bringing in faculty to discuss their research and software development. Quantitatively measuring these additions will be difficult, however. Objective 4: Have the ability to write a computer program to solve specified problems.This objective was met, and the evidence is the same as that for objective 1. Objective 5: Be able to use the Java SDK environment to create, debug and run simple Java programs. This objective was met, and the evidence is the same as that for objective 1. Assessment of Changes Made in the Course: One of the biggest changes made to the course was in the grading. In the past, the grading was done on paper (which, for 520 students in 101 and 101-E, wasted a lot of paper). The current grading system I developed allows all of this to be done online. The students submit their assignments online, the grading is done (by the TAs) online, and the results are e-mailed back to the students. This allowed for a much more efficient use of the teaching assistants time, as well as saving a few forests. Although lab attendance was required in the past, it was first enforced this semester. The students received a lab grade (within a week of their lab), which was a zero if they were not present. In the past, they were told at the very end of the semester their lab grade. The students were given easy access to their grades and their graded assignments. Indeed, we went a bit overboard on this – the students had access to their weighted average, which caused them to focus on that average rather than learning the material. This is going to be changed in future semesters (they can compute their average themselves, but it will not be computed for them). A number of the labs were redone and/or improved on. A few of the labs (in particular, the fourth lab) will need to be reworked for next semester. Student evaluations were improved over last semester. The students submitted evaluation data for each homework assignment, for such questions as the difficulty of the assignment, how long they spent on it, etc. This allowed for analysis of the student opinions of the various assignments. Other Issues: 1. Do you have concerns regarding the background of students coming into the course? No. The students are not assumed to have any background in any computer field for this course. 2. Are there other issues affecting student learning beyond what has been discussed elsewhere in this report? Include any other concerns you have about what students have or have not learned when they have completed the course. Lots. The course is broken in so many ways. Having a lecture of 420 students is a terrible way to teach any subject, much less computer programming. If the department and/or school were serious about improving the student experience in this course, this would be the aspect to tackle first. The school/dept needs to devote more resources to this course (not just add more coursesections to already overworked faculty). The state of the lab room was absolutely terrible (I repeatedly felt it necessary to apologize for the state of the room) – the computers were repeatedly down, and the furniture was pathetic. Although this is being fixed (to some extent) at the end of this semester, the students should not have had to put up with that this semester at all. There is a general lack of teaching assistant support for this class (I had to fight very hard to get a decent amount of undergrad TA support). The amount of funding for undergraduate teaching assistants (who are generally better than the graduate teaching assistants) was much lower than what was needed to run a good course. The prevalent department attitude about graduate student teaching (specifically, that their teaching is not very important and their research is) – while it might be good for publications, is not good for the pedagogical experience of the students in the course. I had serious problems with one teaching assistant this semester, and was told there was little I could do about it. Adding a recitation section would help improve student learning. The
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