ColoradoComputerScienceEducatorsConference(ColCSE)

ChrisWilcoxColoradoStateUniversity

6/3/2016

MorningSchedule

Colorado Computer Science Educators Conference (ColCSE) 26/3/2016

Time Description

9:00-9:30am Continental BreakfastandIntroductions, summarize thedegreeprogramsandenrollmentfiguresforyourinstitution.

9:30-10:30 Redesigning CS1/CS2CourseRedesign, summaryofSIGCSE 2016paper,optional demonstration ofourautomatedgradingsystem.

10:30-11:00 ReportfromSIGCSE2016,androundtableofhighlightsandtrendsfromparticipantsthatattendedtheconferenceinMemphisthisyear.

11:00am-Noon Diversity: Howtoimproveminority andfemaleparticipation inCSprograms?Pleasebringyourenrollmentfiguresandideas.

Noon-1:00pm LunchandRoundTable:Whataretheattributesoforganizations thatdoagoodjobofundergraduateCSeducation?How canwefind

lecturersinthefaceofashortageofqualifiedCSfaculty?

AfternoonSchedule

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Time Description

1:00pm-3:00pm BestPractices:Eachinstitution will brieflydescribetheirdemographics,curriculum,challenges,and successfulpedagogic

practices(automatedgrading,peerinstruction, interview grading,etc.)

3:00-4:00pm Discussion:Howdoweteachintroductory CS?Programminglanguages,tools, lecturesversuslabs,invertedclassroom, peerinstruction, pairprogramming,academic integrity issues,etc.

4:00-4:30pm Discussion:HowcanwecollaboratewithhighschoolandjuniorcollegefacultytopromoteandimproveCSeducationinColorado?

4:30-5:00pm Discusswhethertoholdathirdconference,talk aboutcollaborationsonCSeducationresearchandgrants.

5:00pm-6:30pm Optional visit totheFortCollins BreweryinFortCollins,1020E.LincolnAvenue,FortCollins, 80524

PedagogicPracticesv Theautomatedgradingofstudentprogramsconserves

scarceresourcesandgivesrealtimefeedbacktostudents.v Partialadoptionofinvertedclassroomviapeerinstruction

hasincreasedstudentengagementandinterest.v Assignmentofanonlinetutorial tosupplement labsand

lectureshasimprovedstudentprogrammingskills.v Continuedintegrationofmediacomputationmakes

programmingassignmentsmorerelevantandfun.v Alloftheaboveareaccompaniedbyfrequentprogramming

quizzes inthelabtoensurethatskillsaredeveloped.

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OrganizationalPracticesv Theuseofundergraduatesinadditiontograduate

studentsasteachingassistants.v Thestaffingofahelpdeskandprovisionofadditional

onlinehelpviaabulletinboardsuchasPiazza.v Thedevelopmentofaconsistentwebinterfaceandtools

forallcoursesinthedepartment.v Thestaffingofautomatedtoolstoreduceroteteaching

tasksandallowmoretimewithstudents.v ExtraCredit:thehiringofteachingfacultywithbetter

pay,secureemployment,andadvancementpotential.v ExtraCredit:thestaffingofoutreachprograms,

attendanceatSIGCSE,startinganACM-Wchapter,etc.

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Challengesv Opinion:Teachingrequiressomeoneintheorganization

withfull-timeresponsibilityforundergraduateeducation!v Otherwiseprocessesarefragile,resultsarenot

repeatable,continualimprovementisnotpossible.v Rotationoffacultythroughhigh-enrollmentcoursesleads

toalackofconsistencyinlower-levelcourses.v Curriculumgoesoutofdate,teachingmaterialsare

mismanaged,newteachingpracticesareignored.v Resourcesareinsufficient inmanyareas:curriculum

development,instructortraining,tooldevelopment,etc.

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v Participationbyfemalesandminoritiesisverylow,andnon-majorsareoftenignored

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FemaleParticipation

CSEducation– ThePerfectStorm

336381

451493

594

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Spring 2012

Spring 2013

Spring 2014

Spring 2015

Spring 2016

Total # CSU CS majors

Total # CS majors

Linear (Total # CS majors)

v DemandforComputerScienceisExplodingv SpotlightisonDiversityinTechIndustry

o Techcompaniesarepublishingtheirnumbers,includingbignameslikeGoogle– it’snotgood.

o Microsoftexec(SatyaNadella)commentsongenderandpaydroveindustryspotlightonissues

v EnrollmentincreaseinCSisdramatic!o CSUisnoexception,wehada76%increasein

undergraduatemajorsover5yearso FA16freshmencommitsisalready greater

thanlastyear’srecordenrollment

“Thecurrent‘boom’incomputingwill likelyshapeourcommunityforyears.”- BoomingEnrollments–TracyCampatSIGCSE2016

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ResponsetothisPerfectStorm:OtherInstitutions

ResponsetothisPerfectStorm:OtherInstitutions

96/3/2016 Colorado Computer Science Educators Conference (ColCSE)

Manyinstitutionsareusingenrollmentincreasestoimprove quality ofundergraduateeducation:v Strategicplansforgrowththataddressstaffing,facilities,

curriculum,etc.v Embracingtheeducationaldemandsofmajorsandnon-

majors,therebyincreasingrevenue.v Organizationswithresponsibility andaccountability for

undergraduateeducation.v Aformalprocessforrecruitingandretainingteaching

faculty,similartotheoneforresearchers.v Resourcesaccountableforbringinginfundingfor

scholarships, curriculumdevelopment,anddiversity.

ResponsetothisPerfectStorm:AddressingDiversity

ResponsetothisPerfectStorm:AddressingDiversity

6/3/2016

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Manyinstitutionsareusingwellknownstrategiesduringthistimetoaddress diversity challenges:

v Aggressivelyimprovingcurriculumandpedagogicsv ParticipatinginSIGCSEeducationalresearchv StaffingK-12OutreachProgramsv CommunityBuilding:ACM-WandGraceHopper

Resultsv HarveyMudd,CarnegieMellon- 40%femaleenteringv UniversityofWashington– 30%femalegraduationratev TexasA&M– 20%femaleenrollmentv UniversityofColorado– 17%femaleenrollmentv UniversityofArizona– 14%femaleenrollmentv ColoradoStateUniversity– 10%femaleenrollment

SIGCSE2016v Trip report on ColCSE website includes an executive

summary followed by a more detailed report:http://www.cs.colostate.edu/cse

v Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE), held from 3/2-3/5 in Memphis, Tennessee.

v Around 1300 faculty, instructors, and secondary teachers attended the conference.

v Most attendees are teaching faculty or are doing active research in Computer Science education, or both.

§ Beth Simon had the best paper entitled “A Multi-Institutional Study of Peer Instruction in Introductory Computing”

§ My paper was “Testing Strategies for the Automated Grading of Student Programs”

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SIGCSE2016(ExecutiveOverview)v Diversitycontinuestobeamajorfocusofthe

conference.Manyinstitutionshavesignificantlyimprovedfemaleparticipation,butminorityrepresentationremainsaproblem.Thesuccessfactorsforaddressingunderrepresentationarenowwellknown:asustainedeffortwithadministrationandfacultysupportandaccompanyingresourcesforoutreach,mentoring,andcurriculumchangesareneededtobesuccessful.

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SIGCSE2016(ExecutiveOverview)v Onlinematerialsforcomputerscienceeducation

continuetogrow,includingextensiveonlinecurricula,learningmanagementsystems,andautomatedgradingtools.Manyinstitutionsareusingonlinetextbookstoreplacetraditionaltextbooks,andavarietyofresourcesforK-12instruction(oroutreach)areavailable.Seethesectionononlineresourcesbelowformoredetails.

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SIGCSE2016(ExecutiveOverview)v Increasingenrollmentsareproblematicatmany

institutions,andadjunctfacultyareinshortsupply.IattendedaBOFsessionforadjunctfacultywhereover30attendeessaidtheyhad(oftenmorethanone)openpositions.Itwasclaimedthat9openingsexistforeveryqualifiedcandidate.Factorinsalary,prestigeandworkloadconcerns,andtheresultisashortagethatmayimpactourhiring.

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SIGCSE2016(ExecutiveOverview)v Emphasiscontinuesonpedagogictechniquessuchas

theinvertedclassroom,peerinstruction,andpairprogramming,whicharenowwidelyacceptedandwellresearched.Manydepartmentsareusingtheenrollmentboomtoincreasestaffingandresourcestoaddressdiversityissuesandtoimproveandgrowservicecoursessuchasintroductoryprogrammingordatasciencecoursesfornon-majors

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