Post on 29-Jan-2021
Playing with Clouds: Student directed coursework in Computing
Bruce Scharlau University of Aberdeen
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Students complete coursework to show understanding of materials
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~csc228/teaching/CS5302/
Proposed changes allow flexibility for students
• Original course was restricted to one MSc degree
• Last year opened new alternate parallel MSc degree
• Proposed changes would require both groups to take course: students pick the supported language they will use
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
You know you should provide interesting coursework assessments
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
It’s easy to let students pick trivial examples for their work
A lot of book/movie/game sites
Yet non-trivial exercises provide more interesting ones to mark
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Mother’s Glow: For mums & mums to be
FotoShop: Buying photos via Flickr
Properties: Finding UK houses to buy
Professionally compelling sites are being created for this course
Set the boundaries and guide the students to their solutions
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Provide rubric that is elastic
Provide details of what it does
Provide little of ‘how’ it does it
I let them work in pairs if they want to
Provide clear instructions and mini-goals to guide them
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Students need to know what is required
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Goals and soft deadlines provide a timetable for activity
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
All deadlines are flexible
Goals provide incremental building of the student coursework
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Each stage locks in part of coursework
Lectures and exercises provide routes to required coursework features
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Lectures are background and context
Practical exercises provide ‘how to’ details
Provide exercises that align with the functionality needed later
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Practicals do ‘in the small’ what is needed ‘in the large’ for the coursework
Students can master details before needing to apply them
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
See and do, understand and then apply
Practical work provides an early warning idea of what can be done
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Be flexible and have alternatives
Be flexible and know alternatives that you can deploy if required
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Always have a ‘plan b’
Monitor group progress and provide feedback on ideas
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Speak to each team each week
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Screen ideas to keep students on track to successful coursework
Weekly meetings provide discussion of issues with their work
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Monitor progress, problems, issues, solutions
Provide sounding board and encouragement plus alternatives
Issues raised by one group can be brought to the attention of others
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Share solutions to common problems
You may need to adjust the coursework rubric or marking scheme
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Your students have other courses which may impact on yours
You are not alone.
Should we organise interesting, self-directed exercises for students?
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
The alternative is not very pretty
Imagination isn’t used in trivial work
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Mostly harmless
Set the boundaries and guide the students to their solutions
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Student led assessments provide challenges for them and interesting
work for you to mark
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
Let them choose who to work with and what they want to create
They bring enthusiasm and interest to work
Student led assessments are good for students and staff
Bruce Scharlau, 2010
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~csc228/teaching/CS5302/
More details at web site:
You can achieve this incrementally too
http://www.csd.abdn.ac.uk/~bscharla/
Me and link to slides: