Are They Learning What (We Think) We\u27Re Teaching?

Experience in physics education has revealed that even in courses that assess well, students often have serious misconceptions about fundamental concepts. A concept inventory is an instrument used to demonstrate and measure this anomalous effect. In physics education, use of the Force Concept Inventory and related instruments has facilitated true reform. Indeed, many educators view concept inventories as a key tool for change in any STEM subject. To date, there has been little work to develop concept inventories for use in CS education. This panel describes efforts to develop and encourage the use of such instruments for the computing field, initially for Discrete Mathematics (DM) as taught in CS programs and later for CS1 and CS2. Such instruments have potential for supporting investigations into important questions regarding the teaching of DM and the impact of different approaches on the development of CS1/CS2 skills. Copyright 2006 ACM

A Framework For Success In Real Projects For Real Clients Courses

In this chapter, we demonstrate the importance of Real Projects for Real Clients Courses (RPRCCs) in computing curricula. Based on our collective experience, we offer advice for setting up an effective support infrastructure for such courses. We discuss where and how to find clients, the types of projects that we have used, and how to form and train teams. We investigate the variety of standards and work products that we have used in our courses and explore issues related to assessment and evaluation. Finally, we consider the benefits of an RPRCC-centric approach to computing curricula. A course is underway. Students are excited, engaged, eager to apply what they are learning, eager to communicate with one another about their project work, what they need to accomplish, and what they must find out from outside stakeholders. As a lovely bonus, the project the students are developing is more than a toy problem or a product that will gather dust on the back of the shelf - they are writing software that is useful and will be used. © 2009 by IGI Global