CSC 313 Teaching Computing
Contents
Acknowledgement
Much of this course (structure and materials) is inspired by or carried over from Zoë Wood’s initial offering of the course.
Syllabus
Welcome!
- Instructor: Dr. Ayaan M. Kazerouni ayaank@calpoly.edu
- Office hours: See my homepage
- Tentative course schedule
Course description
An introduction to pedagogical methods and practical techniques for computing education: selecting appropriate content, designing assignments and activities, evaluating student learning, and evaluating teaching efficacy. Hands-on guided curricular design activities and real-world practice.
Course learning objectives
- Explain common challenges to learning and teaching computing to broad audiences
- Discuss computational concepts and correct common misunderstandings
- Assess a proposed CS curriculum and teaching methodology on whether it is appropriate for a target audience
- Identify, evaluate, and effectively use evolving tools for computing education
- Identify, evaluate, and disseminate results from a research study
- Identify, evaluate, and disseminate changing pedagogical norms
- Design an effective assignment for teaching fundamental computational concepts
Assessments and grading
- Coding assignments — self-reflection (15%)
- Reading
- Weekly reading quiz and/or response (20%)
- Discussion participation/lecture quizzes (20%)
- Teaching/tutoring
- Practice teaching in introductory classes + self-reflection (10%)
- Virtual tutoring shadow and write-up (5%)
- Virtual tutoring centre tutoring hours with reflection (10%)
- Culminating experience — an outreach event to teach a computing topic (20%)
Details
Programming: To think about teaching computing, we will begin with reflections on our own coding process. This course includes programming assignments that involve process documentation and reflections. This process will include code review and shared assessment of one’s process and code.
Reading: We will engage with seminal and emerging computing education research. In most cases this will mean reading research papers.
Teaching/tutoring: We will practice teaching computing via both shadowing experienced CS tutors and tutoring in the online tutoring for 101, 202 and 203 students. You’ll also hold a brief session in our introductory class lab sessions.
Culminating experience: In consultation with the instructor, students will select a final culminating experience. Most projects will involve teaching a workshop about a computing topic to a real group of learners. I will post opportunities for these in the early weeks of the quarter.
The following workshops were taught in Spring 2024.
- Introductory Python, two sessions taught to a section of Biochemistry students.
- Data science with Python, two sessions taught to the same section of Biochemistry students.
- Parallelising pandas operations with dask, taught to members of PyData SLO.
- Making music with programming using Sonic Pi, taught to members of the Audio Engineering Society student club at Cal Poly.
- Making art with programming using p5.js, taught to middle-schoolers at the SLO public library.
- Creative prototyping with Adafruit Express, taught to middle-schoolers at the SLO public library.
- Online safety and security, taught to elderly community members at the Morro Bay public library.
- Testing React components with with Jest, taught to two sections of software engineering students.
Course communication
- Slack channel
- Invite link (expires _____)
All communication for this course will take place in the Slack channel linked above. Questions that are of general interest to the class should be sent to the #questions channel. If you’re not comfortable asking questions publicly, you can DM me, and I might post the question and answer to the public channel if I think it would be helpful.
Other benefits of using Slack:
- You can communicate with your classmates in Slack as well
- Although there are assigned readings which will sometimes have Canvas Discussions associated with them, you should feel free to raise points of discussion yourself in Slack
- You’re encouraged to seek feedback about projects in the #general channel—that way you can get feedback from me as well as 34 other smart and motivated people!
Attendance policy
There is no explicit attendance policy for this class.1 However,
- There will occasionally be graded activities in class that you must be present to complete.
- This class is heavily driven by discussions of the day’s activity or reading. If you’re not attending class, you’d just be passively following a reading list.
- A non-trivial component of your final grade is based on participation—participation in discussions, participation in small group activities, etc. You cannot participate if you’re not in class.
All this adds up to: I strongly recommend that you come to class!
I do know that you all have a lot going on, so if you need to miss class on a given day, let me know ahead of time and I can let you make up any activity you might have missed.
Accessibility
I know that everyone is unique, and I may have unintentionally overlooked something that limits access to some materials or activities. Please let me know if you cannot access any content. If you need additional accommodations to complete the required course work, please contact me as soon as possible! You should also contact the Disability Resource Center.
SensusAccess is a self-service, alternate media solution made available by Kennedy Library to automatically convert files into a range of alternative media including audiobooks (MP3 and DAISY), e-books (EPUB, EPUB3, and Mobi) and digital Braille. The service can also be used to convert inaccessible files such as image-only PDF files, JPG pictures, and Microsoft PowerPoint presentations into more accessible and less tricky formats. This service is available at no charge.
Classroom climate
All members of this class are expected to contribute to a respectful, welcoming, and inclusive environment. I expect us to strive to build a community in which:
- We are not code snobs. We do not assume knowledge or imply there are things that somebody should know.
- After our own work is complete, we support one another’s learning by sharing our expertise generously if invited to do so.
- We consistently make the effort to actively recognise and validate multiple types of contributions to a positive classroom environment.
- We strive to contribute meaningfully to group work.
Course schedule
This is the schedule used in Spring 2024. This schedule shows the “big assignments” and doesn’t include all the quizzes or reflection prompts that accompanied most readings.
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This is changing in future iterations. ↩