COSC 122 Computer Fluency

Fall (Winter Term 1) 2009 - University of British Columbia Okanagan

Overview

The fourth offering was solid. Clickers remained effective, and the material was further streamlined. Clickers are essential to improving interactivity and student attendance. The programming performance still can be improved however. Many students take the course for an "easy credit" but leave with the understanding of the value and relevance of the material.

This course goes beyond Microsoft Office and teaches about computer hardware, some programming, and other topics in a broader instruction to Computer Science. Students did some basic programming in HTML and JavaScript. Many students really liked the HTML. The JavaScript was a little harder as it is exposes some of the difficult issues with programming. There is a request for more detailed programming coverage. The database coverage was simplified to include only SQL which was a major improvement.

Student performance was about the same as Fall 2008 with a pass rate of 84% and overall GPA of 2.70. The midterms were weaker than the prior year but overall final exam performance was better. Attendance continues to make a big difference. More practice on programming is still needed (or more motivation to complete programming assignments). The course size continues to grow with a target of 100 students within the next 3 years. The enrolment was 69.

On-line Resources

Student Performance

Of the 69 registered students who started the course, 64 (93%) received a D or higher and 58 (84%) received a C- or higher. The average GPA was 2.70 or a B-. Charts showing the mark breakdown are below. More students stayed engaged and were able to pass the course. The number of exceptional students was about the same.

Mark Breakdown Percentage Mark Breakdown

Comments

The instructor rating of 4.64 was a slight decrease over last year. The course rating of 4.20 was a fairly significant drop from the prior year. The course decreased in the challenging metric (3.60), and overall almost all metrics decreased (unsure why). Continue to emphasize programming as "creative problem solving". Many students, especially arts majors, appreciate the creativity even though it may be challenging at first.

The labs were very good, and there were some excellent TAs this time. The labs themselves are good, but there is still not a good connection with the TAs or motivation for students to attend. That is okay for earlier labs but not good for programming labs. The HTML lab continues to be the favorite. The programming labs just seem so out of place in terms of difficulty to the students. Continue to emphasize that the labs are there for learning and for preparation for the exams. They are "worth" more than the 20% to your grade - the practice is critical!

The course will always be challenging to teach as it is considered an "easy science credit" (and I do not fully dispute that label). However, there is no reason that it cannot be inspirational, fun, and allow students to learn a lot about computers that will be extremely valuable to them. I still need to strike a better balance between difficulty and encouraging higher enrollments.

Strengths of the Course

Weakness of the Course

Most Enjoyable Part of the Course


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