Dawn McKinney
Abstract
The research on teaching and learning over the past 50 years suggests that the early use of collaborative learning leads to higher interest, higher retention, and higher academic performance in students. Early use of these techniques can also increase the sense of belonging for students and can lead to the early development of collaborative skills to prepare students for team experiences in subsequent courses and future careers. During the weekly lab sessions of a second semester introduction to programming course students engaged in collaborative learning experiences through team-based problem solving, project planning, pair programming, and other agile software development practices. Course objectives provided specific goals and criteria for assessment relative to these skills. The assessment in the authors' prior work identified several problem areas which led to specific initiatives to address those problems: (a) instructor-chosen teams, (b) early instruction and reflection on team skills, (c) feedback on team performance, and (d) the use of an IDE that incorporates an automated test-driven development tool. This paper describes the implementation and assessment of these efforts. A significant increase in student team skills from the middle of the semester to the end of the semester was observed.
- ACM/IEEE Computing Curricula 2001, Computer Science Volume, Available at http://www.acm.org/sigcse/cc2001/Google Scholar
- Astin, A. The College Environment. Washington, DC: American Council on Education, 1968.Google Scholar
- Barker, Lecia Jane, Kathy Garvin-Doxas, and Michele Jackson. "Defensive Climate in the Computer Science Classroom." Proceedings of the 33rd SISCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, March 2002, Cincinnati OH, pp. 43--47. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Barkley, Elizabeth F., K. Patricia Cross, and Claire Howell Major. Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty, Jossey-Bass, 2005.Google Scholar
- Beck, Kent and Fowler, Martin. Planning Extreme Programming, Addison-Wesley, 2001. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Chickering, A. W., & Z. F. Gamson 1987. Seven Principles for Good Practices in Undergraduate Education. The AAHE Bulletin, March 1987.Google Scholar
- Denton, Leo F., Dawn McKinney, and Michael V. Doran. Promoting Student Achievement with Integrated Affective Objectives, Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, Nashville, Tennessee, USA (2003).Google Scholar
- Denton, Leo F., Michael V. Doran, and Dawn McKinney. Integrated Use of Bloom and Maslow for Instructional Success in Technical and Scientific Fields, In the Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, Montreal, Canada (2002).Google Scholar
- Denton, Leo F. and Dawn McKinney. Affective Factors and Student Achievement: A Quantitative and Qualitative Study, 34th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Savannah, GA, October 20--23, 2004.Google Scholar
- Denton, Leo F. and Dawn McKinney. A Melding of Educational Strategies to Enhance the Introductory Programming Course, 35th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Indianapolis, IN, October 19 22, 2005.Google Scholar
- Doran, M. V. and D. D. Langan. A Cognitive-Based Approach to Introductory Computer Science Courses: Lessons Learned. In the Proceedings of the 26th SISCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, March 1995, Nashville, TN, pp. 218--222. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Felder, Richard M., and Rebecca Brent. The ABC's of Engineering Education: ABET, Bloom's Taxonomy, Cooperative Learning, and And So On. Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, (2004).Google Scholar
- Felder, R. M., G. N., M. Mauney, C.E. Hamrin, Fr., & E. J. Dietz. A Longitudinal Study of Engineering Student Performance and Retention. III. Gender Differences in Student Performance and Attitudes. Journal of Engineering Education, 84 (2), 121, 1995.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Feldman, K. A., & T. M. Newcomb. The Impact of College on Students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1969.Google Scholar
- Kuh, G. National Survey of Student Engagement: National Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice. Bloomington: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research and Planning, 2000.Google Scholar
- Langan, David, Leo F. Denton, and Dawn McKinney. Affective Objectives in a Programming Languages Course. ACM SE Conference'05, March 18-19, 2005, Kennesaw, GA, USA. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Light, Richard. Making the Most of College. Harvard University Press, 2001.Google Scholar
- McKeachie, W. J., P. R. Pintrich, Y. Lin, and D.A. Smith. Teaching and learning in the college classroom: A review of the research literature. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, 1986.Google Scholar
- McKinney, Dawn and Leo F. Denton. Affective Assessment of Team Skills in Agile CS1 Labs: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Proceedings of the 36th SISCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, St. Louis, MO February 23-27, 2005. Google ScholarDigital Library
- McKinney, Dawn, Julie Froeseth, Jason Robertson, Leo F. Denton, David Ensminger. Agile CS1 Labs: eXtreme Programming Practices in an Introductory Programming Course, Proceedings of XP/Agile Universe 2004, Calgary, Canada, August 15-18, 2004. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer, 2004.Google ScholarCross Ref
- McKinney, Dawn and Leo F. Denton. Houston, we have a problem: there's a leak in the CS1 affective oxygen tank, Proceedings of the 35th SISCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, Norfolk, VA, March 2004. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Oakley, Barbara, Rebecca Brent, Richard Felder, and Imad Elhajj. Turning Student Groups in to Effective Teams, Journal of Student Centered Learning, Volume 2, No. 1, 2004, p. 9--34. Also available at this URL: http://www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/Papers/Oakley-paper(JSCL).pdfGoogle Scholar
- Pascarella, E. T., & P. T. Terenzini. How College Affects Students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991.Google Scholar
- Rosser, S. V. Re-engineering Female Friendly Science. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University, 1997.Google Scholar
- Springer, L., M. E. Stanne, & S. S. Donovan. Effects of Small-Group Learning on Undergraduates in Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology: A Meta-Analysis. Review of Educational Research, 69, 21--51, 1999.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Seymour, E., and N. M. Hewitt. Talking About Leaving: Why Undergraduates Leave the Sciences. Westview Press, 1997.Google Scholar
- Tinto, Vincent. Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition. Second Edition, The University of Chicago Press, 1993.Google Scholar
Index Terms
- Developing collaborative skills early in the CS curriculum in a laboratory environment
Recommendations
Developing collaborative skills early in the CS curriculum in a laboratory environment
SIGCSE '06: Proceedings of the 37th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science educationThe research on teaching and learning over the past 50 years suggests that the early use of collaborative learning leads to higher interest, higher retention, and higher academic performance in students. Early use of these techniques can also increase ...
Affective assessment of team skills in agile CS1 labs: the good, the bad, and the ugly
Team experiences can be important learning experiences, and industry highly values team skills in graduates. Low retention rates might also be improved with early team experiences because team experiences have been linked to increases in the sense of ...
Affective assessment of team skills in agile CS1 labs: the good, the bad, and the ugly
SIGCSE '05: Proceedings of the 36th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science educationTeam experiences can be important learning experiences, and industry highly values team skills in graduates. Low retention rates might also be improved with early team experiences because team experiences have been linked to increases in the sense of ...
Comments