Back at SIGCSE again, this one the 50th to be held. Much of my time is spent dashing about and renewing friendships. That said, I made it to several sessions. I've included at least one author and linked to their paper.
Starting on day 2, we begin with the Keynote from Mark Guzdial
"The study of computers and all the phenomena associated with them." (Perlis, Newell, and Simon, 1967). The early uses of Computer Science were proposing its inclusion in education to support all of education (1960s). For example, given the equation "x = x0 + v*t + 1/2 a * t^2", we can also teach it as a algorithm / program. The program then shows the causal relation of the components. Benefiting the learning of other fields by integrating computer science.
Do we have computing for all? Most high school students have no access, nor do they even take the classes when they do.
Computing is a 21st century literacy. What is the core literacy that everyone needs? C.f. K-8 Learning Trajectories Derived from Research Literature: Sequence, Repetition, Conditionals. Our goal is not teaching Computer Science, but rather supporting learning.
For example, let's learn about acoustics. Mark explains the straight physics. Then he brings up a program (in a block-based language) that can display the sound reaching the microphone. So the learning came from the program, demonstration, and prediction. Not from writing and understanding the code itself. Taking data and helping build narratives.
We need to build more, try more, and innovate. To meet our mission, "to provide a global forum for educators to discuss research and practice related to the learning and teaching of computing at all levels."
Now for the papers from day 1:
Lisa Yan - The PyramidSnapshot Challenge
The core problem is that we only view student work by the completed snapshots. Extended Eclipse with a plugin to record every compilation, giving 130,000 snapshots from 2600 students. Into those snapshots, they needed to develop an automated approach to classifying the intermediate snapshots. Tried autograders and abstract syntax trees, but those could not capture the full space. But! The output is an image, so why not try using image classification. Of the 138531 snapshots, they generated 27220 images. Lisa then manually labeled 12000 of those images, into 16 labels that are effectively four milestones in development. Then, a neural network classifier classified the images. Plot the milestones using a spectrum of colors (blue being start, red being perfect). Good students quickly reach the complete milestones. Struggling students are often in early debugging stages. Tinkering students (~73 percentile on exams) take a lot of time, but mostly spend it on later milestones. From these, we can review assignments and whether students are in the declared milestones, or if other assignment structure is required.
For the following three papers, I served as the session chair.
Tyler Greer - On the Effects of Active Learning Environments in Computing Education
Replication study on the impact of using an active learning classroom versus traditional room. Using the same instructor to teach the same course, but using different classrooms and lecture styles (traditional versus peer instruction). The most significant factor was the use of active learning versus traditional, with no clear impact from the type of room used.
Yayjin Ham, Brandon Myers - Supporting Guided Inquiry with Cooperative Learning in Computer Organization
Taking a computer organization course with peer instruction and guided inquiry, can the peer instruction be traded for cooperative learning to emphasize further engagement and learning. Exploration of a model (program, documentation), then concept invention (building an understanding), then application (apply the learned concepts to a new problem). Reflect on the learning at the end of each "lecture". In back-to-back semesters, measure the learning gains from this intervention, as well as survey on other secondary items (such as, engagement and peer support). However, the students in the intervention group did worse, most of which is controlled by the prior GPA. And across the other survey points, students in the intervention group rated lower. The materials used are available online.
Aman, et al - POGIL in Computer Science: Faculty Motivation and Challenges
Faculty try implementing POGIL in the classroom. Start with training, then implementing in the classroom, and continued innovation. Faculty want to see more motivation, retaining the material, and staying in the course (as well as in the program). Students have a mismatch between their learning and their perceived learning. There are many challenges and concerns from faculty about the costs of adoption.
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