Elizabeth S. Adams

A survey of literature on the teaching of introductory programming

Three decades of active research on the teaching of introductory programming has had limited effect on classroom practice. Although relevant research exists across several disciplines including education and cognitive science, disciplinary differences have made this material inaccessible to many computing educators. Furthermore, computer science instructors have not had access to a comprehensive survey of research in this area. This paper collects and classifies this literature, identifies important work and mediates it to computing educators and professional bodies. We identify research that gives well-supported advice to computing academics teaching introductory programming. Limitations and areas of incomplete coverage of existing research efforts are also identified. The analysis applies publication and research quality metrics developed by a previous ITiCSE working group [74].

Managing the introductory database course: what goes in and what comes out?

It is difficult to find a business organization of any size that does not use a database management system to organize its most important asset: data. According to [3], the annual expenditure on database software is

The peer review process of teaching materials: report of the ITiCSE'99 working group on validation of the quality of teaching materials

10 billion. Therefore, one might argue that the database module is a focal course in the computer and information sciences curricula. As database management systems advanced, and database theory supporting these systems evolved, so too the database course has been modified significantly, and it continues to change. How have instructors kept pace with these revisions? Often, it appears that topics are constantly added, but none disappear, and the course may become unmanageable. The SIGCSE community has recognized this phenomenon by discussing the ingredients of what appears to be an essential follow-up database course (papers [4] and [5], and an enthusiastic, overflowing Birds-of-Feather session [2]). The current panelists will now turn to the introductory course itself and share their experiences. Among the questions they will address are:

Building a sense of history: narratives and pathways of women computing educators

When an instructor adopts teaching materials, he/she wants some measure of confidence that the resource is effective, correct, and robust. The measurement of the quality of a resource is an open problem. It is our thesis that the traditional evaluative approach to peer review is not appropriate to insure the quality of teaching materials, which are created with different contextual constraints. This Working Group report focuses on the evaluation process by detailing a variety of review models. The evolution of the development and review of teaching materials is outlined and the contexts for creation, assessment, and transfer are discussed. We present an empirical study of evaluation forms conducted at the ITiCSE 99 conference, and recommend at least one new review model for the validation of the quality of teaching resources.

Approaches to teaching the programming languages course: a potpourri

This working group laid the groundwork for the collection and analysis of oral histories of women computing educators. This endeavor will eventually create a body of narratives to serve as role models to attract students, in particular women, to computing; it will also serve to preserve the history of the female pioneers in computing education. Pre-conference work included administration of a survey to assess topical interest. The working group produced aids for conducting interviews, including an opening script, an outline of topics to be covered, guidelines for conducting interviews, and a set of probing questions to ensure consistency in the interviews. The group explored issues such as copyright and archival that confront the large-scale implementation of the project and suggested extensions to this research. This report includes an annotated bibliography of resources. The next steps will include training colleagues in how to conduct interviews and establishing guidelines for archival and use of the interviews.

Trends and discoveries of the computing educators oral history project

The release of Curriculum 2001 coupled with the increasing importance of the World Wide Web and the changes in pedagogy enabled by new technologies has made the choices about what to teach in the programming languages course and how to teach it more varied . Each of the members of this panel approaches their version of the course differently and will speak about their vision of the course, their style, their techniques and the materials they use. By sharing our versions of the course and generating discussion, we hope to provide others with additional ideas to consider including in their courses and to gain inspiration for inclusions in ours.

Computing educators oral history project: seeking the trends

Andrea Lawrence Department of Computer Science Spelman College Atlanta, Georgia 30314 USA +1 404 270-5875 lawrence@spelman.edu Lecia J. Barker (moderator) School of Information The University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas 78712 USA +1 512 471 3821 lecia@ischool.utexas.edu Amardeep Kahlon Department of Computer Science Austin Community College Austin, Texas 78752 USA +1 512 223 2069 akahlon@austincc.edu

International perspective of women and computer science

This report expands upon the work started by an ITiCSE 2005 Working Group, which established the groundwork for collecting and analyzing the oral histories of computing educators and provided a foundation for the Computing Educators Oral History Project (CEOHP). The main charge for the Working Group during ITiCSE 2008 was to begin analyzing the interviews already included in CEOHP. As part of the process of exploring analysis approaches, we revisited the status of CEOHP and what had been learned since 2005. We report on analytical procedures for using the interviews as research data and as the basis for informational, motivational resources. We describe techniques and software tools we investigated for qualitative (thematic) analysis of this rich set of personal histories. The analysis allowed themes to emerge naturally from the interviews and suggested specific areas for further investigation. The report describes plans, including procedural updates, archival options, web portal needs, legal and ethical issues, target groups, and publication targets. We conclude with a discussion of future challenges for CEOHP.

Distance education (panel): promise and reality

The topic of women in computer science has recently been getting more and more attention. The special issue of the SIGCSE Bulletin inroad (Volume 34, Number 2, published in June 2002) is one of the milestones that indicate this trend. However, a review of this special issue reveals that though the topic is examined from different angles, only one paper addresses it from an international point of view. By presenting statements derived from four countries on four different continents, our panel aims to highlight the topic from this multinational perspective. Throughout the discussion with the audience we hope to identify common interests and to check whether an international agenda with respect to the topic can be formulated.

A multi-national study of reading and tracing skills in novice programmers

I am the Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. From 2001-2004, I also served as Chair of the Learning & Teaching department in the School. My research interests span emerging technologies for learning, educational policy, and leadership in educational innovation. My funded research includes a grant from the U.S. Department of Education Star Schools initiative to development and study augmented reality simulations using wireless mobile devices, and three grants from the National Science Foundation to (1) aid middle school students learning science via multi-user virtual environments, (2) develop a research agenda for online teacher professional development, and (3) explore the feasibility of a “scalability index” for assessing the potential transferability of a locally successful educational innovation to a wide range of contexts.