Ingredients for student-centered learning in undergraduate computing science courses

Authors:
Philippe J. Giabbanelli
Affiliations:
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby BC, Canada
Venue:
Proceedings of the Seventeenth Western Canadian Conference on Computing Education
Year:
2012

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Abstract

Previous researchers and educators have highlighted the potential for making computing science courses creative and fun. This can be a challenging exercise as it can be demanding in terms of resources and may lead to settings which are more entertaining than informative. In this paper, we share our experiences in introducing three ingredients to address this challenge in undergraduate computing science courses: creative questions, relevant examples, and constant opportunities for feedback. We contrast our results in a first-year introductory computing science course against a second-year data structure course. Our results suggest that these ingredients can significantly benefit students' motivation and enthusiasm but work very differently between first- and second-year courses.