COSC 122 Computer Fluency

Fall (Winter Term 1) 2012 - University of British Columbia Okanagan

Overview

The seventh offering of COSC 122 was a major success. The course content is very exciting to students with a variety of backgrounds and gives the opportunity to be creative and understand how everyday technology works.

This course goes beyond Microsoft Office and teaches about computer hardware, some programming, and other topics in a broader introduction 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.

On-line Resources

Student Performance

Of the 95 registered students who started the course, 77 (81%) received a D or higher and 77 (81%) received a C- or higher. The average GPA was 2.69 or a B-. Charts showing the mark breakdown are below. More students stayed engaged and were able to pass the course.

Mark Breakdown Percentage Mark Breakdown

Comments

The instructor rating was 4.70. The course rating was 4.60. The course remains moderately challenging (3.50). Students learn to appreciate programming as "creative problem solving", although it may be challenging at first.

The labs were very good with excellent TAs. Some labs are easy (Lab 1, Word, PowerPoint) and other labs (programming labs 6-8) are considerably harder and the TAs cannot keep up with the questions. For Lab 2 on creating a unique picture, the best picture I have ever seen was made.

The course will always be challenging to teach as it is considered an "easy science credit". However, there is no reason that it cannot be inspirational, fun, and allow students to learn a lot about technology that will be extremely valuable to them. The goal for this course is to grow it considerably so more students have the opportunity to truly understand the technology they use everyday.

Strengths of the Course

Weakness of the Course

Most Enjoyable Part of the Course


* Home Page * Go Back