Two weeks down....

Whew.

Two weeks into this class, and it has been interesting.  The first week and a day were great - everyone did great on the first lab, with some fun and creative solutions to the "make your own conversational script" part of the lab.  We had some good discussions in class - one of my goals with this class is not just to introduce students to computer science, but since almost all of the students in this class are entering freshmen (it is a "100" class, after all!) I also talk a little about how to succeed in college.  I had 5 "random college advice" tips that I went over on Monday.  I thought they were helpful, but it seemed to fall a little flat on the class.  I suspect (students reading this can correct me if I misinterpret this) that students really haven't yet grasped the level of personal responsibility they have now.  When I'm 10 minutes into class and over half the class is sitting there with empty desks - no paper out, no pencil, not taking notes - I wonder how in the world they expect to be able to review for exams.  It's so ingrained in me that the first thing you do when you come into class is to sit down, open a notebook and get out a pen to take notes that it doesn't occur to me that people need to be told to do that.  So I'll do that next week - make it clear that if they don't do that, I can almost guarantee that their grade will be a letter grade or more below what it could be if they took notes.  That's just how it is.

So after the first "week and a day" things were a little less smooth.  In the Wednesday class I spent way too much time with the Blown to Bits Chapter 1 discussion (and only a little "discussion" - I need to talk less and ask questions more), which only left 10 minutes for the 30 minutes worth of other things I wanted to cover.  I find Blown to Bits to be really great reading with intriguing stories, and I could probably talk for hours about it, but I either need to plan for longer discussions or need to show more self-control in talking about it.

On Friday we had the second lab.  Well, that was an interesting experience.  I planned for it to be a little more challenging than the first lab - that's the point after all, to ratchet up the difficulty over the semester - but based on student reactions the "a little" part of "a little more challenging" wasn't very accurate.  In the first lab I let students work at their own pace, and answered questions when they asked.  In the second lab I started that way, and when everyone was working quietly for an hour and so I thought people were getting things done - no questions, so everyone is getting it, right?  Wrong.   For students reading this: just so you know, from my station in the front, I can view all of your screens and see what you're doing (surprise!).  After giving a hint and still not seeing a lot of progress, I decided that we should be more proactive.  Wyatt and I walked around and checked with each student on what they were doing and where they were stuck.  That got many over their sticking points, and moving along on the assignment.  Clearly people were stuck - some really stuck - but no one was asking for help!  OK, lesson learned - we'll be checking up on you more intrusively in the future.  With appropriate nudges as we walked around, people started doing much better - clearly the students are all capable of this, but need to get bumped past little obstacles that come up.

Now it's time to work on creating the next couple of labs.  Hopefully the lessons learned from the second lab will make those go as smoothly as the first one, while still giving students some challenging material!

The Promise of a New Semester

New semesters, and particularly new academic years, are very exciting. For those of us who are "old hats" in academia, preparation for a new semester is always hectic, but is predictable: planning for classes, creating syllabi and initial assignments and lectures, doing last-minute student advising (what in the world are continuing students doing coming in for advising now??), meeting with new students and prospective graduate students. As I ran around campus this past week, students have been everywhere, moving in to the dorms and exploring campus. Seeing first-time freshmen with their parents brings back the excitement and uncertainty of when I was a freshman ... well, let's just say it was a few years ago. From the student's perspective, it's a big new world, and you'll be responsible for yourself in a way that you've never had to be before. From the parent's perspective, it's all about letting go and trusting that your children will make responsible decisions (a parenting experience that I'll have in just a few years!).

Most of the students in this CSC 100 class are first-time freshmen, so you may very well be experiencing this yourself. I'm looking forward to this class, but I have a confession to make to you: this is the first time I have taught freshmen in around 20 years. I will be making my best effort to look at things from your perspective, and to remember that many of you have no previous experience in computer science. If I stray from that, feel free to remind me - I'm here because I am passionate about computer science, and want to share that passion with you and start you on the fascinating road to understanding the wonders of computing. If I'm doing things that are not allowing you to succeed (and here "succeed" means learning, not just getting a grade in a class), then I want to change things so that you can succeed.

Finally, this is a brand new class - I've never taught it before, but no one else has ever taught exactly this class before either. This class is based on the Beauty and Joy of Computing class at the University of California at Berkeley, but a lot of the class reflects my own changes and ideas. I want to know what you think about the class, and ideas you have on ways to improve it. You can always talk to me or email me about this, but I also want to encourage you to keep your own class blog. In addition to letting me know what you are thinking about the class (I'll read your blog!), it will help you put things into perspective if you occasionally stop and reflect on what you're learning and what you're experiencing in the class. You won't be graded or judged based on what you write, even if it is critical, as long as you are professional - don't make it personal with either me or other students, and don't use language or write anything you would be embarrassed about your mother or grandmother reading. Instructions on how to set up your own class blog are on the class web site, and if you email me a link to your blog I will add a link to it on my blog's page so others can easily follow your blog.

I'm looking forward to a great semester!