Week 2 Monday

Summary:

Today I focused on reading articles and going over the introduction to Alice tutorials. I was able to read through two articles, “Exploring the Role of Visualization and Engagement in Computer Science Education” and “Social Networks Generate Interest in Computer Science”. I skimmed the IMEj article and “Using Hangs-On Visualizations to Teach Computer Science from Beginning Courses to Advanced Courses” since there wasn’t much content directly related to Alice. For the powerpoints, I was able to go through the bunny and fairy ones and start on the four part series. For each tutorial, I summarized the basic progression into key topics, tried to rewrite a description for it.

Thoughts:

I found the article “Exploring the Role of Visualization and Engagement in Computer Science Education” interesting. The news that visualization by itself doesn’t have very much educational value unless there is an active component that engages the learner was fascinating. I really like the list of practices that the article provides. They were useful to think about as I approached the tutorials. The list which included tips such as explaining graphics and keeping the audience’s knowledge level in mind, was something very applicable that I didn’t find in the other papers that I’ve read so far. (I still have a fair amount to go so I won’t generalize yet). The other articles were good background information though. It was interesting to see where CS introduction education has been and where they are aiming it and just to get a feel for the general discussion at the moment.

Things I want to improve so far that I have noted include:
Consistency-An example would be to use color instead of quotes to highlight specific Alice commands the learner is trying to find. Jenna uses this technique in the bunny tutorial but Jenna uses the quotes. When doing the tutorial, it was helpful to have the colors highlight what I was looking for in Alice.
Wording-Some of the wording is redundant and unnecessary. While I appreciate the tone used sometimes it is almost too informal and I think putting some energy into rewriting some of the instructions without losing the simplicity would be helpful.
Titles-The tutorials for the most part go in a logical and helpful order. The title of each individual slide doesn’t really reflect this though. Many of the slides have the same title and unless I am looking for the overall progression, they are too broad for me to pick up which skill I am learning. Simple changes here could help them find their place and ask more specific questions.
Concepts vs. Tasks-The tutorials should be a balance of teaching concepts and instructions to get the learner through a particular task. There are two goals—to arrive at the end world, but also to have the skill at the end to recreate similar but different worlds. Sometimes the integration of these two components makes for awkward slides. I think just being conscious of when an important concept is being presented so it can be highlighted and referred back to would be good.
Follow Up-I liked Ruthie’s powerpoint on the fairy because it had a follow up component where she asked the learner to further modify the world. I think the tutorials that ask the user to customize and explore (like with the camera controls) help them learn more, otherwise less ambitious learners would simply stick to the buttons they are taught to use.

Hours: 8