9/3/96 |
To: The Judges of the TA Web Contest Project From: Brent Dahlen and Dave Doyle RE: CSci1001 - Our Submission to the Web Contest Computer Science 1001 - Introduction to Computers for Non-Majors is a class designed to teach the basics of computers and computer science to those without much experience in the field. It was designed to cover a wide range of people from those with little experience, those who have never touched a computer, and those who are actively "computer-phobic". To make this program more practical and to help make learning easier, a lab was introduced to this class. In this lab, the fundamentals of computers and computer science are demonstrated through the use of hands on training using common software packages, such as Netscape, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. Not only did this make the esoteric knowledge easier to understand, but it also helped provide practical skills to the students (something few classes on this campus do). Unfortunately, this lab opened up a whole new set of problems. Many students hadn't touched computers and were overwhelmed, others had used these software packages for years, and were bored silly. So, much of the Teaching Assistant's time was used trying to keep the advanced students from feeling like their time was wasted, while trying not to lose the slower students. A difficult task at best. Due to the nature of the class, a computerized solution was great. Not only were we teaching the class how to use the internet anyway, we could depend on them having computer access and could depend on certain characteristics of these computers. The pages could be designed for viewing by a Netscape browser of version 2.0 or better on a high speed connection. Taking advantage of this, the pages were designed to be fewer and longer, since with a cabled connection the longest time was spent in making a connection, not in downloading long pages. Also, we could count on the students being able to view text color, tables, frames and CGI and javascript applications. By putting the labs on the computer, this freed the students from limitations imposed by time, location and learning speed. They could preview the labs before the class started and ensure that they knew what topics would be covered for the day, and go in and practice if they chose. The lab itself consisted of giving instruction to the students the same as before, but now the students could rest assure that if they could not accomplish the skills by the end of class, they could practice whenever, wherever and however often they wished. It would be a win-win situation for both the TAs and the students themselves. The task was expanded upon by having the students search the internet to review articles for class to further enhance the learning. In addition, on-line tests provided a method for the students to monitor their own knowledge and to ensure that they were fully integrating the material. The effectiveness of the web pages was already established. One of the special constraints was to have the pages ready for second summer session, when the class was taught. In addition, the creators for the web page were also the TAs for the class, so they were able to identify first-hand which aspects of the pages were and were not effective. A few aspects that were identified were:
The pages will be improved and expanded on as the class continues next year. http://www.itlabs.umn.edu/classes/csci1001. |