Innovative Practices in Computer Science

1. Innovative Practices in Computer Science Barbara Ericson Georgia Institute of Technology CCLI Conference Aug 2008

2. Innovative Practices • Alice • Games • Media Computation • Robotics

3. Main Questions • How has the approach been assessed and what were the results? • What are the strengths and weaknesses of the approach? • How does the approach work with majors and non-majors? • What are the barriers to adoption of the approach?

4. What is Alice? • Free development environment • From Carnegie Mellon University • Available from http://www.alice.org • Used to create 3D movies and games • Used to teach object-oriented programming • Without the frustration of syntax errors • using drag-and-drop programming

5. Alice Assessment • Used as a pre CS1 for "at risk" CS majors at Ithaca College (Wanda Dann) and St. Joseph's University (Stephen Cooper) (n=25) SIGCSE'00 • compared to a non treated "at risk" control group (n=30) and a not "at risk" control group (n=52) • "high risk" – lack of programming experience and weak math skills • better grades for the treatment group in CS1 (about 1 grade higher (3.0 versus 1.9) • higher retention in CS1 (88%) than both control groups • "at risk" (47%) and not "at risk" (75%) • higher retention through 2nd year (88%) vs (15% for "high risk") • Open questions • Would any intervention for the "at risk" group had the same success? • How well would it work for CS1?

6. Alice Strengths and Weaknesses • Advantages • Used for teaching computing concepts without the frustration of syntax • Can be used to develop animations and games • creative and open-ended assignments • Disadvantages • Doesn't cover all CS1 topics • Steep learning curve for getting started • Doesn't work well on all machines • Perceived as not "real"

7. What do we mean by Games? • Types • 2D arcade style games • 3D computer games • first person shooter • Wii-type interactive games • simulation games • Role playing games • Board games

8. Games Assessment • Games as a context for CS1-CS3 • Jessica Bayliss, Rochester Institute of Technology, RAPT program, SIGCSE'06 • 48 individuals in a distance first summer course (2 female and 5 minorities) • 34 passed (only 37 took exam) (about 30% WDF) • reports that students were highly engaged in the course, but not everyone wants to make games • Games as a context for a general education course for non-majors, GDCSE’08 • Jim Whitehead, Un. of Calif, Santa Cruz • two years with a total of 212 students (20% female) • each year about 1-3 students switch to a game design degree • 81% rate the course good to excellent

9. Games Strengths and Weaknesses • Strengths • Attractive context for some majors and non-majors • does increase enrollment in some courses • Can teach many computing concepts in this context • CS1, CS2, machine learning, AI, graphics, etc • Weaknesses • Doesn't appeal to many women and some men • Steep learning curve for instructors • Need a library of games and game consoles • Game design degrees may limit job opportunities

10. What is Media Computation? • Writing programs that manipulate media to teach computing concepts • iteration as a way to modify all pixels in a picture to negate the picture • conditionals as a way to remove red eye from a picture or to do chromakey • Covers CS1 and CS2 topics • Developed by Dr. Mark Guzdial at Georgia Tech collage linked list

11. Media Computation Assessment • Used as a CS1 for non-majors (Georgia Tech) or as a pre CS1 (Gainesville College), SIGCSE'04 • majority female (53.8% Tech and 69.2% Gainesville) • improvement on success in course • from 71.2% to 86%-90% at Georgia Tech (n=818) • from 70.2% to 77% - 90% at Gainesville (n=81) • 68% of students enjoyed the class and 42-50% wanted to take an additional media computation course (versus 23-31% for a CS course) (3.5% in a pre-course survey) • Used as a CS1 at Columbus State University • With "traditional" CS1 sections as control (Lewis and Loftus) • better success and satisfaction with course with Media Computation • no difference in CS2

12. Media Comp Strengths and Weaknesses • Strengths • succeeds with women • encourages creativity • programs have concrete results • has proven successful at many institutions with different instructors • and for large numbers of students • Weaknesses • pushback from departments (not "real" CS) • not how I learned it • misconception that it is easier than traditional CS • if it is fun they can't be learning CS • sound cards needed in machines to do sound processing

13. What do I mean by Robots? • Institute for personal robotics at Georgia Tech and Bryn Mawr • http://www.roboteducation.org • funded by Microsoft Research • CS1 at Georgia Tech and Bryn Mawr • robot with camera (includes Media Computation)

14. Robot Assessment • Two semesters trial (Georgia Tech majors and Bryn Mawr undeclared majors) • 90.87% success rate • students enjoyed the robots • reported the class being about computer science • found the homework challenging • a final exam comparison at Georgia Tech showed that the robot course students did better on most questions • but, mostly CS majors in robot class and non-majors in traditional • Jump in students taking CS2 at Byrn Mawr • 2-6 usual pre robots and now 13-23 post robots

15. Robots Strengths and Weaknesses • Strengths • Helps retain students in CS1 • Helps attract students to CS2 • Weaknesses • Cost ($150 currently) • robots have limited ability