Multimedia for Computer Science: from CS0 to Grades 712

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Multimedia for Computer Science from CS0 to
Grades 7-12
Glenn D. Blank, William M. Pottenger, Shreeram
Sahasrabudhe, Shenzhi Li and Fang Wei Computer
Science and Engineering Department and Henry Odi,
Director of Academic Outreach and Governmental
Affairs Lehigh University
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National Trends in Computer Science Engineering
Education

• The pipeline for women and minorities entering
  computer science (CS) and information technology
  (IT) is shrinking, at a time when the projected
  demand for IT professionals is growing
• Camp, 1997, 1999, Cohoon, 2002
• We must take direct action to attract and retain
  more women to computing at all points in the
  pipeline (i.e., K-12, undergraduate, graduate,
  faculty and industry)
• Camp 1999

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National Trends in Computer Science Engineering
Education
Cohoon, 2002
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National Trends in Computer Science Engineering
Education

• CS teachers in middle and high schools confirm
  what we believe are national trends
• Teachers are not well prepared to teach Computer
  Science
• Teachers typically have taken only one or two
  college courses in CS or information technology
• Women and under-represented minority students
  quickly lose interest in the subject
• One high school reports having just one girl out
  of 125 students in computer science elective
  courses

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National Trends in Computer Science Engineering
Education

• Feedback from our survey of local middle and high
  school CS teachers also shows
• There is a lack of awareness among K-12 educators
  about what computer scientists actually do
• Its just nerds looking at screens, its just
  programming, its about hardware not people.
• There is considerable interest in using
  multimedia to enhance awareness

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Where Were Headed

• We plan to take direct action at many points in
  the pipeline using a combination of
• Multimedia e-learning and
• One-on-one mentoring to
• Widen the pipeline from G7-12 through first year
  undergraduate Computer Science courses

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Where Were Coming From

• CIMEL Constructive, collaborative Inquiry-based
  Multimedia E-learning
• NSF Combined Research and Curriculum Development
  grant to Computer Science and Engineering faculty
  at Lehigh University
• S.T.A.R. Academies
• Outreach to women and under-represented minority
  at-risk students in the Lehigh Valley

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Where Were Coming From S.T.A.R. Academies

• S.T.A.R. ? Students That Are Ready
• The Lehigh University S.T.A.R. Academies
• Are comprehensive academic initiatives designed
  to prepare diverse group of students for college
• Meet needs of students from academically,
  economically, socially disadvantaged and/or
  at-risk backgrounds
• After almost 15 years of intervention, enrollment
  in S.T.A.R. Academies is now one hundred forty
  (140) students representing twenty-seven (27)
  middle and high schools from Allentown,
  Bethlehem, Easton and surrounding communities

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S.T.A.R. AcademiesSuccessful Intervention

• S.T.A.R. boasts better than 86 retention rate of
  students, faculty and tutors
• Of students that stay with the Academies, all
  graduate from high school
• 98 have gone on to colleges or universities
• Through consistent follow-up and interaction, a
  full 100 of S.T.A.R. college students have
  graduated within five years of entrance
• Several of S.T.A.R. college graduates currently
  work for Pennsylvania companies

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Whats up with MultimediaThe CIMEL System
Constructive,
collaborative,
Inquiry-based,
Multimedia
E-Learning
Funded by the National Science Foundation (Grant
No. EIA-0087977) Combined Research and
Curriculum Development (CRCD) program
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The CIMEL User Interface
TRACK LIST provides menu of chapters, sections
and screens, plus progress (check marks) and
current screen (in red).
JUST THE FACTS lets users view non-interactive
text and graphic content as HTML (no personae,
sound, animation).
COLLABORATE tools include chat and remote control
show mesessions, plus searchable archive of
previous sessions.
EXPLORE invokes a browser or a text mining
emerging trends detection tool to support
inquiry-based learning exercises.
FIND lets user search for text-based content in
the multimedia and Just The Facts HTML pages.
Personae (graphics and audio) model a diverse
communityof professors, TAs, librarian, and
students learning together.
PREFERENCES pane lets users adapt user interface
according to their learning styles (audio or text
off, auto-advance, ).
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Multimedia for CS0 and CS1
The Universal Computer Introducing Computer
Science with Multimedia
Glenn D. Blank, Robert F. Barnes and Edwin J. Kay
(McGraw-Hill/Primis, 2003)

• Covers breadth of Computer Science (CS0)
• Introducing the Universal Computer,
  Programming languages,
• Software engineering, Computer architecture,
  Operating systems and networks, Usability and
  web design,
• Artificial intelligence, Social and ethical
  issues.

• Multimedia presents content parallel to textbook
  Java

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Introducing Java Objects First with BlueJ
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Experimental Evaluation
Introduction to Computer Science (CS1)(about 55
potential majors/minors, 35 non-majors)
Multimediaonly
First chapter of Objects First With Java
1. Web-based objective pre-test
post-test
Addchapter
Addmultimedia
2. Programming assignment (modify
BlueJ Picture project)
David Barnes and Michael Kölling, Objects First
With Java A Practical Introduction Using BlueJ,
(Prentice Hall, 2003).
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Results (Pre-test/Post-test)
Multimedia only
Textbookonly
Pre-Test (20 questions) Post-test (20 questions)
5.05 14.50
5.05 12.64
Multimedia Lecture
AddMultimedia
15.40
15.13
Conclusions Objects first with Java can work.
Multimedia helps.
Multimedia adds to learning from text
(t-6.527,df34,plt.001),but adding text to
multimedia is not significant (t-.993,df
29,p.329).
Students report that multimedia interactivity
helps them learn.
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Will it work in high schools?
(a second, smaller experiment)
1. Web-based objective pre-test
post-test
Multimediaonly
First chapter of Objects First With Java
2. Programming assignment (modify
BlueJ Picture project)
David Barnes and Michael Kölling, Objects First
With Java A Practical Introduction Using BlueJ,
(Prentice Hall, 2003).
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Results
Multimedia only
Textbookonly
Pre-Test (20 questions) Post-test (20 questions)
3.23 9.08
5.31 7.62
Conclusions multimedia improves learningbut
the final scores are lower than for college
students.
Experimenters observed differences in
maturityand motivation (S.T.A.R. experiment was
not part of a CS1 course)
High school students probably need more guided
practice exercises.
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Strategies E-Learning Needs Context

• Need to integrate multimedia into existing grades
  7-12 curricula
• Need to overcome common misconceptions about
  computer science
• Need to motivate students with role models and
  mentoring
• Need new approaches to engineering education that
  impact the affective domain of learning
• Need to effectively communicate our concern for
  students through the instructional technology!!

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The Big PictureNSF Teaching Fellows Grant

• NSF GK-12 is an initiative to establish Teaching
  Fellows in STEM classrooms for grades K-12
• In our project, Teaching Fellows serve as
  resource in grades 7-12 STEM classrooms
• Computer science Teach Fellows will help adapt
  multimedia and help teach middle school students
• Video editing, Flash, and user interface design
• Spreadsheets with applications in science
• Misconceptions about what computer scientists do

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Give God the Glory!!!

• In Yeshuas Name,
• Amen

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References

• Camp, T. (1997). The incredible shrinking
  pipeline, Communications of the ACM, vol. 40, no.
  10, pp. 103-110, Oct. 1997. Online at
  www.mines.edu/fs_home/tcamp/cacm/paper.html
• Camp, T. (1999). The incredible shrinking
  pipeline unlikely to reverse. ACMs Committee on
  Women in Computing. Online at
  www.mines.edu/fs_home/tcamp/new-study/new-study.ht
  ml
• Cohoon, J. M. (2002). Women in CS and Biology. In
  Proceedings of the 33 SIGCSE Technical Symposium
  on Computer Science Education, Northern Kentucky,
  February 2002, 82-86.