Overview

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

• Motivation (for fall, 1992):

  • Interest in incorporating active learning within the CS classroom
  • Gene Herman (Math) had developed a lab-based approach to linear algebra
  • Previous class format: 3 50-minute lectures (meeting in classroom) + 1 50-minute lab (meeting in separate lab) per week
    Timing of material between lecture and lab not always straightforward
  • Computer lab in department was available for class scheduling
  • [Naively] I thought I could just reorganize material 50-minute week into 4 parts for daily labs
  • Change involved pedagogy only — not content,
    so this had minimal impact on other CS courses

• Some history:

  • Original materials:
    • 36 labs; about 90 pages of lab materials
    • extensive referencing of textbook
  • Current materials:
    • 45-50 labs/semester
    • Readings and laboratory materials for each day
    • Sometimes utilize textbook, but often develop full course materials
    • Readings for CSC 161 next semester: 17,000 lines of html (284 pages); 63 images; 155-line style sheet; 49 separate computer programs; separate header file
    • Labs: over 21,000 lines of html (350 pages)
    • Available publicly over the Web

• 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

created 23 May 2008 last revised 1 December 2008

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