Overview

• Course emphasizes active learning, collaborative work as primary class activity

• Two versions:

  • Full approach (Accelerated CS1–2) (html / pdf) lab exercise almost every class meeting
    • Semester is 14 weeks of classes with 4 50-minute classes per week (56 class meetings, plus final exam)
    • 47 labs (mostly for 1 class session, occasionally 2 class sessions)
    • 3 tests
    • wrap-up session
  • Partial approach (CS2: with C) (html / pdf): about 1/3 lectures and 2/3 labs
    • 2-3 lab exercises after each lecture
    • a few 2-day labs

• Class format trusts students to take responsibility

  • Lecturing on same material as reading is counter-productive
  • Students need to be prepared for class, so they will not be embarrassed with their lab partner
  • Students encouraged to ask questions on reading and lab exercises

• Laboratory exercises include a wide range of activities:

  • write program to solve a problem
  • modify or expand existing code
  • run experiments on existing programs to observe results or time algorithms
  • write paragraph to describe and explain output
  • gain experience with Linux environment or integrated programming environment
  • write comparison of two or more techniques

created 23 May 2008 last revised 15 June 2008

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