Subverting the fundamentals sequence: using version control to enhance course management

  • Authors:

  • Curtis Clifton;Lisa C. Kaczmarczyk;Michael Mrozek

  • Affiliations:

  • Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana;Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana;Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
  • Year:
  • 2007

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Abstract

Instructors of introductory courses face many challenges, not the least of which is dealing with a large volume of course materials and students with differing backgrounds. There are often too many administrative demands to have as much time for creative pedagogy as one would like. Team projects, and complex realistic projects in general, increase psychic demands, and conflicting schedules make creative collaboration with other instructors impossible. In order to address these issues, we need to find ways to increase effective handling of course development, to free up time for creative pedagogical efforts. This paper reports on an exploratory project in which two instructors and an undergraduate teaching assistant used the Subversion version control system to collaborate remotely on developing and running two CS1 classes. We focus on the ease and efficiency of course management using Subversion, providing a new perspective on how version control can enhance teaching.