Reducing lecture and increasing student activity in large computer science courses

ABSTRACT

This paper describes how one instructor uses a web-based tool called MessageGrid in a laptop-enhanced computer science course to accomplish five goals: (1) to solicit questions from students regarding pre-lecture reading assignments, (2) to engage the students in classroom activity that supports the lecture material for the day, (3) to conduct short, frequent assessments of student comprehension, (4) to conduct exercises that encourage peer-learning, and (5) to use Ink-based software animations to supplement the lecture material for the day. We present MessageGrid and explain how the short lecture exercises (called lexes) help engage the students in class. We show how the assessment component of MessageGrid helps students know whether or not they learning the material as they should, and enables the instructor to identify students who are falling behind. We present four different ways of designing lexes. We end with conclusions and plans for future work.

REFERENCES

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.3 COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
      K.3.1 Computer Uses in Education
          Subjects: Collaborative learning

General Terms:
Experimentation

Keywords:
CS education research, classroom management, courseware, multimedia, pedagogy