5. Students’ come to CS1 with many negative preconceptions about computer science and programming. They think computer scientists are geeks and that programming is hard (and boring) and that they won’t like it. This is why two of my main course objectives are to help students realize the breadth and relevance of CS and to help them realize programming is fun and creative.

4. Students’ beliefs about their own abilities can be huge obstacles to their success and can also impact the success of their peers. This has a direct impact again on my attempts to foster a hospitable environment in the class through collaborative teaching methods such as group work and pair programming. This is particularly challenging with some of my women students. I feel I am constantly struggling to dispel a "culture of innate ability" - students' beliefs that they are either born knowing how to program or they are not.

3. Students learn best by doing. Educational research says this is true and many students have mentioned on course evaluations that the hands-on work we do helps them learn best. This directly impacts the methods and assignments I give in the course. I typically scaffold students' learning by assigning exercises that offer a great deal of support in the beginning and require them to work more independently as they progress. A typical series of exercises might be:

• introduction/examples (lecture)
• group exercises (usually on paper)
• process walk-through (hands-on during class)
• pair exercises (hands-on during class)
• lab assignments (usually individual)
• opportunities to learn on their own
• reflection/questions

2. Writing interesting or “cool” programs motivates students I wish I didn't believe this because it is problematic; cool programs are often more difficult for introductory students to code and also because cool assignments typically include Java GUI "bells and whistles" that take students' focus away from the fundamentals (course objective #1). In the past I have leaned toward coolness (see the quilt and name surfer "Nifty" Assignments for some great examples) but I'm not so sure this is wise. Students I teach now seem to have more difficulty learning basic concepts (e.g., writing and tracing methods and loops) than my Pascal students did years ago.

1. I’m not always an accurate judge of what and how well students are learning. I have learned over the years that just because we've "covered" a topic in the class doesn't mean students have learned it. This impacts the number and types of assignments I give and the amount of feedback I get using Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) and other methods.

Last Modified: 06/02/2006