ReDesigning CS1 for Breadth and Retention Natalie Linnell Nicholas Tran Carol Gittens Santa Clara University Goals of redesign Make course function better as an elective Improve retention esp women and underrepresented minorities ID: 904615
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Slide1
A “Grand Tour” of Computer Science: Re-Designing CS1 for Breadth and Retention
Natalie
Linnell
, Nicholas
Tran, Carol
Gittens
:
Santa
Clara University
Slide2Goals of re-designMake course function better as an elective
Improve retention, esp. women and underrepresented minorities
Give majors an idea of what CS is as a field
Intro to Computer Science, instead of Intro to Programming
CS 1(F11-S14)CS 2 (F08-S14)% of males completing the course72%79%% of females completing the course69%72%
Timeframe
% women in CS 1
(#offerings)
%women in CS 2
(#offerings)
%women who finish CS major
F11-S14
32% (13)
20% (5)
18%
F08-S14
NR
18% (8)
13%
Slide3Key Design ElementsSeparate problem solving and syntax
Focus on breadth
Slide4Focus on breadth – “Grand tour”
“Introduction to CS,” not “Introduction to Programming”
Applied
examples in lecture and labPhysics, math, biology, psychologyLots of collaborative active learning
Shown to improve retention of women “Big Ideas” in Computer ScienceBrief intros to: the Internet, Databases, HardwareSocietal issues, with 2 papersPrivacy, History of CS, HCI, HackingFulfills Science, Technology, and Society Core requirement
Slide5Separate problem solving and syntaxIntroduced new, 100-minute lab
Lab
is only place C++ is used, pseudocode only in lecture
Pair programming, assigned pairs in labLab is flippedPossibility of labs in different languagesThis grant allowed us to buy laptops, so we could have lab in a regular classroom
No indication of increased student time commitment
Slide6Data gathering Programming problems
Attitudes to CS
Metacognition
Early days, but so far, indications of improved retention
TermTotal enrolledAnswered 7/7 on Q1Answered 5-7/7 on Q1Took at least CS2DFWMath orPhysics majorsW1525 (18 took survey)
9
(50% of surveyed 36% overall)
13
(72% of surveyed 52% overall)
3
(12%)
1
(4%)
W14
37
10
(27%)
11
(30%)
6
(16%)
W13
30
10
(33%)
8
(27%)
3
(10%)
Slide7Next stepsCarry ideas into CS2Multiple labs for CS1
Slide8Thanks!Natalie Linnell
:
nlinnell@scu.edu
Nicholas Tran: ntran@scu.edu Carol Gittens
: cgittens@scu.edu