Application of Peer Learning to the Introductory Computer Science Curriculum
Introduction
This project involves the application of peer learning to the introductory (freshman/sophomore) Computer Science curriculum. Peer (or cooperative) learning has students working together as part of their own learning experience. Peer learning can take many forms. This project is an outgrowth of our experience with one approach to peer learning in the CS2 course in our introductory curriculum. Our experience, and our collaboration with colleagues on workshops, has shown this to be an important topic and of interest to others involved in the pedagogy of our discipline.
This project is supported by a National Science Foundation Undergraduate Faculty Enhancement Grant DUE955406. The principal investigator for the project is Craig Wills, a faculty member in the Computer Science Department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
Workshops
The most visible activities of the project are workshops held in the Summer of 1996 and Summer of 1997 at WPI. The outcomes of these workshops include:
- Specific cooperative projects and tasks that can be used in the introductory computer science curriculum.
- Means for evaluation and assessment of these tasks.
- A summary of the lessons learned from the 1997 workshop.
Peer Learning Activities
After each of the workshops, participants returned to their respective institutions to use and evaluate many of the activities we discussed. Initial results were compared and discussed at the 1997 workshop resulting in some lessons learned. Participants continued work on the project during the 1997-98AY with the results from these activities included in a summary paper and the project report.Project Results
- C.E. Wills, D. Cordes, D. Deremer, B.J. Klein, R.A. McCauley, and L. Null. Application of peer learning to the introductory computer science curriculum. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCSE Conference, pages 373-374, San Jose, CA, March 1997. Panel presentation.
- Craig E. Wills, Dorothy Deremer, Renee A. McCauley, and Linda Null. Studying the use of peer learning in the introductory computer science curriculum. Technical Report WPI-CS-TR-97-11, Computer Science Department, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, September 1997.
- A summary paper on the project.
- The final project report.
Workshop Details
- Schedule for the 1997 workshop.
- Details for 1997 workshop participants.
- Participants in the 1997 workshop.
- Schedule for the 1996 workshop.
- Details for 1996 workshop participants.
- Participants in the 1996 workshop.
Additional Work
A bibliography of peer learning literature is available. More information on cooperative learning in computer science is available from Lynn Ziegler and an article by Jane Chu Prey.Contact Information
Educators interested in the project can contact Prof. Craig Wills at WPI for more information and to be added to the project mailing list.
Craig E. Wills Computer Science Department Worcester Polytechnic Institute 100 Institute Road Worcester, MA 01609, USA. Phone: (508) 831-5622 FAX: (508) 831-5776 Email: cew@cs.wpi.edu URL: http://www.cs.wpi.edu/~cew