Teaching and Learning News

By Stephanie Chow

This post is reprinted from the SFU News blog. Read the original post here.

PhD student Evgeny Vinnik (right) and his professor Arrvindh Shriraman (standing) have introduced a new approach this semester to teaching computing science CMPT 300, a course about modern computer operating systems and the services they provide.

Rather than applying rigid traditional teaching methods, they’re experimenting with a “flipped classroom” method that uses social media and interactive components such as YouTube and Google Group to deliver lectures.

Shriraman came up with the idea last semester after students asked him to post videos of his lectures online. Now he records and uploads videos of his lecture slides along with additional commentary to the course’s YouTube channel so students can watch it all before attending class.

“By pre-recording the videos we’re able to slash one hour of lectures and spend more time discussing interesting or complex concepts and organizing hands-on labs,” says Vinnik.

The duo has also arranged a private Google group for further dialogue and questions regarding assignments and course material.

“We want our students to be more engaged, to actively interact with the course material, because in this way knowledge is retained better,” says Vinnik.

While the course elements are virtually based, Shriraman says the “flipped classroom” is different than an online classroom because students do attend class regularly and the online material supplements class-based learning.

So far, he says students are positively responding and are more engaged in classroom conversations.

Related links

CMPT 300 videos on YouTube

By Barry Shell

Project leaders Donna McGee-Thompson and Diana Cukierman are proud of what they have achieved with the AEP

One summer day in 2006, Computing Science academic advisor Margo Leight decided to call the Student Learning Commons (SLC) in the SFU Library. She was concerned that some of her students seemed overwhelmed, lost, and desperate about their coursework. They were not managing their time well and they were approaching the end of the semester with problems that should have been addressed much earlier. She wanted to do something proactive. “Instead of waiting until the students failed, the idea was to do something earlier to help them,” says Diana Cukierman, senior lecturer in Computing Science. Some optional out-of-class orientation sessions were offered, but attendance was poor and the students who needed to be there did not come. So Cukierman teamed up with Donna McGee Thompson, Learning Services Coordinator in the SLC. “We concluded it had to be a course requirement, and we’d need faculty on board,” says McGee Thompson.

After a successful pilot stage in 2006-07, Cukierman and McGee Thompson’s Academic Enhancement Program (AEP) was made a required part of the Computing Science curriculum. Instructors in participating courses were asked to allot one two-hour lab slot per course to AEP, where students participated in a workshop or an assignment aimed at improving their studying and learning skills. To date, AEP has helped more than 3,200 students in 38 different courses. “The program became a required part of Computing Science because the department saw the value of the program for supporting student performance,” says Cukierman. Advisors also reported that AEP students were bringing more in-depth questions to appointments.

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Three students from the School of Computing Science – Malcolm Lalkaka, Radu Balan and Jag Sandhar – have won first place in the BCNET Broadband Innovation Challenge for a Web application that makes it easier to host live lectures online.

According to Sandhar, Virtual Classroom improves online lecture presentations because it includes features such as hand-raising to ask questions, a chat feature for students and teachers to discuss lecture material and polling so instructors can gauge participating student comprehension.

After receiving positive feedback from lecturers who have tried Virtual Classroom, the students are lobbying SFU to adopt the application.

Read the full story in SFU News

Dr. Arthur Liestman received the 1996 SFU Excellence in Teaching Award.

Email: arthur_liestman@sfu.ca

School of Computing Science
Faculty of Applied Sciences

Link: http://www.cs.sfu.ca/~art/index.html