Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
- Keyword
-
- Game design (2)
- Advising (1)
- Best practices (1)
- CS Unplugged (1)
- CS1 (1)
-
- Collaboration (1)
- Computational Thinking (1)
- Computational thinking (1)
- Computing curricula (1)
- Curriculum (1)
- Development (1)
- Education (1)
- Evaluation (1)
- Faculty (1)
- Game development (1)
- Gender (1)
- General education (1)
- Graduation rates (1)
- Group projects (1)
- High-impact practices (1)
- Information Technology education (1)
- Institutions (1)
- Non-majors (1)
- Online learning (1)
- Online learning platforms (1)
- Peer evaluation (1)
- Personalized learning (1)
- Presentations (1)
- Programming (1)
- Project-based pedagogy (1)
Articles 1 - 13 of 13
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Effect Of A Computing-Focused Linked-Courses Learning Community On Minority And Female Students, Amber Settle, James Doyle, Theresa Steinbach
The Effect Of A Computing-Focused Linked-Courses Learning Community On Minority And Female Students, Amber Settle, James Doyle, Theresa Steinbach
Amber Settle
While enrollments in computing degrees and courses have grown rapidly in the past decade, both female and minority male students remain underrepresented in computing programs. This makes recruitment and retention of these populations a continuing concern. Affinity for a major is connected to student retention, and learning communities have proven effective for this purpose. We present an evaluation of a three-year linked-courses learning community in which we measure pre- to post-quarter changes in student attitudes and resource utilization. We find that participants in the learning community are significantly more likely to report being a part of a group of programmers …
Evaluating A Linked-Courses Learning Community For Development Majors, Amber Settle, John Lalor, Theresa Steinbach
Evaluating A Linked-Courses Learning Community For Development Majors, Amber Settle, John Lalor, Theresa Steinbach
Amber Settle
Despite a rebound in enrollments, men of color and women remain underrepresented in computing. The literature indicates that student-student interaction and affinity for the computing major are important factors for retention of underrepresented groups in computing, and learning communities connect students with each other and faculty to improve collaboration, interaction, enthusiasm. Despite their long history and promise for addressing retention, computing-focused learning communities remain rare. Here we present an evaluation of a linked-courses learning community for men of color and women majoring in a development-focused area of computing. We measure student attitudes and affinity for their major via a survey …
Information Technology And Computer Science Programs: How Do We Relate?, Bonnie K. Mackellar, Gregory Hislop, Mihaela C. Sabin, Amber Settle
Information Technology And Computer Science Programs: How Do We Relate?, Bonnie K. Mackellar, Gregory Hislop, Mihaela C. Sabin, Amber Settle
Amber Settle
In this panel session, the relationship between computer science programs and information technology programs at universities that house both will be explored. People outside the computing disciplines often find the distinction between these programs confusing. The panelists, who have experience with both types of program, will discuss strategies for differentiating the programs in the eyes of administrators, for advising students into the correct program, and for maintaining focus and excellence in both computer science and information technology programs.
A Computer Science Linked-Courses Learning Community, Amber Settle, John Lalor, Theresa Steinbach
A Computer Science Linked-Courses Learning Community, Amber Settle, John Lalor, Theresa Steinbach
Amber Settle
Previous work has shown that factors such as student engagement and involvement can impact progress for computer science majors. One promising approach for improving student engagement is learning communities, which have a long history in academia but are relatively uncommon in computing. In this article we describe a linked-courses learning community for women and men of color majoring in development-focused computing degrees. We provide logistical information about the first offering of the learning community and assess the effectiveness of the community via a student survey. Our results show that students in the learning community are more likely to report that …
Best Practices In Teaching Information Technology Development, Amber Settle, Deborah Labelle, Hazem Said, Sheila S. Sicilia
Best Practices In Teaching Information Technology Development, Amber Settle, Deborah Labelle, Hazem Said, Sheila S. Sicilia
Amber Settle
Programming is one of the most fundamental and central topics in the information technology curriculum. Because of its importance it is crucial to understand how to effectively teach development students. In this panel we share best practices for teaching programming to a variety of populations, including freshman, non-majors, and community college students. Various pedagogical approaches including pair programming, studiobased instruction, peer instruction, active learning, cooperative learning, project-based pedagogy, high-impact education practices, and CS Unplugged type activities are included.
Turning The Tables: Learning From Students About Teaching Cs1, Amber Settle
Turning The Tables: Learning From Students About Teaching Cs1, Amber Settle
Amber Settle
Programming has a central role in the computing curriculum, and introductory programming classes have been extensively studied in the computer science education literature. However, most of the studies focus on the effectiveness of various pedagogical approaches on student learning and engagement, and relative little attention is paid to faculty development. The gap in the literature puts CS1 faculty interested in effectively implementing innovative pedagogical approaches in a difficult situation. This article argues that taking a behaviorist approach to the CS1 classroom can provide much-needed feedback. Students provide instructors with one of the best sources of information about effective programming instruction, …
Interactive Learning Online: Challenges And Opportunities, Mihaela Sabin, Amber Settle, Becky Rutherfoord
Interactive Learning Online: Challenges And Opportunities, Mihaela Sabin, Amber Settle, Becky Rutherfoord
Amber Settle
Since the early 1990s online education and online learning systems have held the promise of increasing instructional productivity and reducing costs without sacrificing educational quality. There is no evidence to date that such promise has materialized. The impetus of the newest developments with free online courses to hundreds of thousands of students might drastically transform how we teach more and better with less. The innovation that prompted this panel is called Interactive Learning Online (ILO), and has the distinctive feature of highly interactive, machine-guided instruction that can be scaled to accommodate a large number of students who benefit from targeted …
Institutional Support For Computing Faculty Research Productivity: Does Gender Matter?, Monica M. Mcgill, Amber Settle
Institutional Support For Computing Faculty Research Productivity: Does Gender Matter?, Monica M. Mcgill, Amber Settle
Amber Settle
We address the question of how male and female computing faculty in the U.S. and Canada perceive research requirements and institutional support for promotion and tenure. Via a survey sent to approximately 7500 computing faculty at the 256 institutions that participate in the annual Taulbee Survey, our results identify differences in reported tenure and promotion requirements, including the number of publications required during the probationary period, the importance of the scope of publication venues, the importance of publishing in non-refereed journals, and the importance of collaborative presentations. Differences were also discovered in institutional support and the satisfaction levels with that …
Rethinking Advising: Developing A Proactive Culture To Improve Retention, Amber Settle, John Glatz
Rethinking Advising: Developing A Proactive Culture To Improve Retention, Amber Settle, John Glatz
Amber Settle
In 2009 DePaul University’s College of Computing and Digital Media (DePaul CDM) discovered a significant lag in undergraduate retention rates as well as four, five and six-year graduation rates as compared to other major colleges at the university. DePaul CDM’s investment in online student service resources had over time caused the unintentional reinvention of the college advising office into one that supported a very limited number of students, focusing primarily on students either in academic distress or students nearing graduation.
In an effort to modify the advising culture at DePaul CDM into a more proactive one, a strategic student service …
Engaging Game Design Students Using Peer Evaluation, Amber Settle, Charles Wilcox, Chad Settle
Engaging Game Design Students Using Peer Evaluation, Amber Settle, Charles Wilcox, Chad Settle
Amber Settle
Many information technology educators have worked in recent years to develop courses to attract students to the field. As faculty achieve success with technical courses designed to be appeal to a broad audience, it can be hard to maintain the initial excitement particularly as multiple sections of the courses are taught on a continuing basis. In this article we describe a project that added peer evaluation to an assessment in a game design course with a large non-major audience. While controversial, peer evaluation has shown some promise in motivating students to work harder and in improving certain key skills. Consistent …
Computational Thinking In A Game Design Course, Amber Settle
Computational Thinking In A Game Design Course, Amber Settle
Amber Settle
As a part of an NSF-funded project to enhance computational thinking in undergraduate general education courses, activities and assessments were developed for a game design course taught at DePaul University. The focus of the course is on game analysis and design, but the course textbook uses an approach that is heavily grounded in computational thinking principles. We describe the course activities and assignments and discuss an initial assessment of those materials. Our results show that there is a gap in difficulty between several of the activities and indicate that the materials developed help students to better learn the computational thinking …
Computational Thinking (Ct): On Weaving It In, Paul Curzon, Joan Peckham, Harriet G. Taylor, Amber Settle, Eric Roberts
Computational Thinking (Ct): On Weaving It In, Paul Curzon, Joan Peckham, Harriet G. Taylor, Amber Settle, Eric Roberts
Amber Settle
Computing offers essential problem-solving tools needed for contemporary challenges. The role of computing in education, and appropriate pathways for modern students, are of concern [10]. Educators recognize the importance of improving information technology (IT) skills and fluency, and studies have developed guidelines [7][8], but the analytical concepts and tools of computing have benefits beyond IT fluency. CT [12] continues earlier discussions on the nature of computing, [3][9]. This has helped the computing community to strengthen definition of the problem solving skills that computing brings to society, through education, outreach, and research. Recently, CT has served as a basis for several …
A Hybrid Approach To Projects In Gaming Courses, Amber Settle, Joe Linhoff, André Berthiaume
A Hybrid Approach To Projects In Gaming Courses, Amber Settle, Joe Linhoff, André Berthiaume
Amber Settle
We describe an approach to projects used in game development courses that supports learning individual skills while also developing team skills. Early assignments focus on developing individual skills in coding and content creation, and when those skills are honed, students form teams to work on a larger and more complex game. Classes that use a hybrid approach, that is individual projects that build toward a large group project, allow students to solidly learn game development skills required of gaming graduates and yet stimulate creativity and challenge students to move beyond their comfort zone.