A new image of computing: Transforming a computing literacy course for students
Chen Hang
Johnson C Smith University
Charlotte, USA
To tackle these challenges, we need to start by gaining a better understanding of the current generation of students. Learning more about students’ perceptions of college and its learning environment, as well as their future goals, will help instructors to employ the most appropriate pedagogical techniques.
At Johnson C Smith University, all undergraduate students have to take a computer literacy course as part of their general education. This gateway course aims to give students a basic understanding of technology and attract more students into the CSE field. We administered surveys to determine students’ understanding of the field of computing and any possible barriers they saw to recruiting CSE majors.
In the second part of this study, several issues which had an impact on the effectiveness of the course were identified. Students typically didn’t want to take this type of required course, either because they were not interested in technology or, more commonly, because they felt they had gained enough knowledge and skill through their personal experience of using computers. Therefore, we overhauled the course based on our study of the characteristics of the students. The pilot revised course has three modules:
‘Enhance your professional and personal life experience using technology’: The study showed that one of the main factors that can influence students’ interest in CSE is their desire to use computing in another field. This module explores the career opportunities available to CSE majors, the skills required in these careers and the preparation necessary for them.
‘Become a IT guru’: All the students are equipped with a laptop and they use computers around the clock for a wide range of activities. However, they have very limited knowledge of how to use computers effectively to handle hardware and software issues -- many panic when their computers go down. The findings suggested that undergraduates had moderate computer anxiety, which was related negatively to learning computer skills. In this module, we have designed a series of ‘hands-on’ laboratory sessions related to configuring, maintaining and trouble-shooting laptops in the network environment. Even students with little interest in technology find this module appealing.
‘More than fun and games’: Considering that these students have grown up with computer games and other electronic systems and are inclined to interact and learn from a gaming-style interface, we use animation and robotics as the instructional tools to instil enthusiasm for technology and enhance their learning experience. We introduced Alice programming to motivate a broad spectrum of students who had no prior programming knowledge or experience through creating short 3-D animated movies. Based on the survey, Alice programming had a particular appeal to female students. We are also using robotics design projects to give the students a ‘real taste’ of computer engineering experience.
In addition to transforming the course content, we worked on the pedagogical aspects, which can improve mastery and retention. As the students like to work cooperatively on projects and participate in group settings, we implemented active and collaborative learning throughout the course.
This paper describes how the course was reformed and the evaluation techniques used to assess this pilot project, which included participant activity evaluations, academic performance and a variety of surveys. The preliminary results suggest that the pilot study was successful and statistics on recruitment and retention rates are being maintained.