Bruce Scharlau University of Aberdeen - sparqs With Clouds - Dr...Bruce Scharlau, 2010 You know you should provide interesting coursework assessments Bruce Scharlau, 2010 Bruce Scharlau,

Playing with Clouds: Student directed coursework in Computing

Bruce Scharlau University of Aberdeen

Bruce Scharlau, 2010


Students complete coursework to show understanding of materials

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~csc228/teaching/CS5302/

Proposed changes allow flexibility for students

•  Original course was restricted to one MSc degree

•  Last year opened new alternate parallel MSc degree

•  Proposed changes would require both groups to take course: students pick the supported language they will use


You know you should provide interesting coursework assessments



It’s easy to let students pick trivial examples for their work

A lot of book/movie/game sites

Yet non-trivial exercises provide more interesting ones to mark


Mother’s Glow: For mums & mums to be

FotoShop: Buying photos via Flickr

Properties: Finding UK houses to buy

Professionally compelling sites are being created for this course

Set the boundaries and guide the students to their solutions


Provide rubric that is elastic

Provide details of what it does

Provide little of ‘how’ it does it

I let them work in pairs if they want to

Provide clear instructions and mini-goals to guide them


Students need to know what is required


Goals and soft deadlines provide a timetable for activity


All deadlines are flexible

Goals provide incremental building of the student coursework


Each stage locks in part of coursework

Lectures and exercises provide routes to required coursework features


Lectures are background and context

Practical exercises provide ‘how to’ details

Provide exercises that align with the functionality needed later


Practicals do ‘in the small’ what is needed ‘in the large’ for the coursework

Students can master details before needing to apply them


See and do, understand and then apply

Practical work provides an early warning idea of what can be done


Be flexible and have alternatives

Be flexible and know alternatives that you can deploy if required


Always have a ‘plan b’

Monitor group progress and provide feedback on ideas


Speak to each team each week


Screen ideas to keep students on track to successful coursework

Weekly meetings provide discussion of issues with their work


Monitor progress, problems, issues, solutions

Provide sounding board and encouragement plus alternatives

Issues raised by one group can be brought to the attention of others


Share solutions to common problems

You may need to adjust the coursework rubric or marking scheme


Your students have other courses which may impact on yours

You are not alone.

Should we organise interesting, self-directed exercises for students?


The alternative is not very pretty

Imagination isn’t used in trivial work


Mostly harmless

Set the boundaries and guide the students to their solutions


Student led assessments provide challenges for them and interesting

work for you to mark


Let them choose who to work with and what they want to create

They bring enthusiasm and interest to work

Student led assessments are good for students and staff


http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~csc228/teaching/CS5302/

More details at web site:

You can achieve this incrementally too

http://www.csd.abdn.ac.uk/~bscharla/

Me and link to slides:

Documents

Bruce Scharlau University of Aberdeen - sparqs With Clouds - Dr...Bruce Scharlau, 2010 You know you should provide interesting coursework assessments Bruce Scharlau, 2010 Bruce Scharlau,