Homework assignment types for computer history survey course?
This week I received my course evaluations from our spring semester. It was my first time working as an adjunct instructor. The student evaluations of my knowledge and teaching were great, the only exception being that everyone ranked the assignments as average, easy, or very easy. The assignments were: - multiple choice quiz at the start of each class, to ensure the students read the homework chapters - midterm with 10 open-ended questions - final paper For those who teach similar courses (survey of the history of computing), what kind of assignments do you give? Also what sort of in-class group projects do you assign? I'm looking for new ideas. There is some concern that CS students might take my course with the expectation of it being an easy A. (It's not, but still I think it needs to be more challenging for them.)
Hi Evan, For a decade, I taught Silicon Valley as a type of contemporary archaeology fieldwork at the University of Bristol, UK. My first assignment each year was in the classroom, asking students to recall their personal tech history, ie what they used, what they discarded. It might sound a bit light, but it brought up some deep discussion, and you could set it as an essay. That question is the basis of the long duree sequel to "Artifacts". cheers, Christine Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London Author: Artifacts: an archaeologist's year in Silicon Valley (MIT Press) On Thu, 30 Jun 2022 at 20:14, Koblentz, Evan A <evan.koblentz@njit.edu> wrote:
This week I received my course evaluations from our spring semester. It was my first time working as an adjunct instructor. The student evaluations of my knowledge and teaching were great, the only exception being that everyone ranked the assignments as average, easy, or very easy.
The assignments were: - multiple choice quiz at the start of each class, to ensure the students read the homework chapters - midterm with 10 open-ended questions - final paper
For those who teach similar courses (survey of the history of computing), what kind of assignments do you give? Also what sort of in-class group projects do you assign? I'm looking for new ideas. There is some concern that CS students might take my course with the expectation of it being an easy A. (It's not, but still I think it needs to be more challenging for them.) _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
Hi Evan, Congratulations on your first time working as an adjunct instructor. Seems like you taught a wonderful class! In terms of the assignment, I don’t have any specific suggestions, but I would ask you to think about what you are hoping to accomplish in changing your assignments first before doing so. When advising faculty in our Center for Teaching and Learning, I usually ask faculty to go through a three prong process roughly based on backward-design: 1. What are the learning objectives of the course? 2. What assessments/assignments would allow a student to demonstrate that they are meeting those objectives? 3. What are the readings/skills you need to impart on the student to allow them to complete the assessment/assignment? Without the learning objective, it isn’t really clear why you are changing your assignments. Why does a student viewing a class as an easy A matter? Ideally, a student should be able to easily demonstrate the learning objectives if proper pedagogical practices are followed. I would caution against viewing harsher grading as a way to motivate your students. Have you reached out to NJIT's Institute for Teaching Excellence? I am also happy to talk to you about syllabus design and assignments through email privately if you would prefer. Sincerely, Nabeel
On Jun 30, 2022, at 2:41 PM, Christine Finn <christine.finn@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Evan,
For a decade, I taught Silicon Valley as a type of contemporary archaeology fieldwork at the University of Bristol, UK.
My first assignment each year was in the classroom, asking students to recall their personal tech history, ie what they used, what they discarded. It might sound a bit light, but it brought up some deep discussion, and you could set it as an essay.
That question is the basis of the long duree sequel to "Artifacts".
cheers,
Christine
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London Author: Artifacts: an archaeologist's year in Silicon Valley (MIT Press)
On Thu, 30 Jun 2022 at 20:14, Koblentz, Evan A <evan.koblentz@njit.edu <mailto:evan.koblentz@njit.edu>> wrote: This week I received my course evaluations from our spring semester. It was my first time working as an adjunct instructor. The student evaluations of my knowledge and teaching were great, the only exception being that everyone ranked the assignments as average, easy, or very easy.
The assignments were: - multiple choice quiz at the start of each class, to ensure the students read the homework chapters - midterm with 10 open-ended questions - final paper
For those who teach similar courses (survey of the history of computing), what kind of assignments do you give? Also what sort of in-class group projects do you assign? I'm looking for new ideas. There is some concern that CS students might take my course with the expectation of it being an easy A. (It's not, but still I think it needs to be more challenging for them.) _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org <http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ <http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/> and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org <http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org>_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
Hi Evan, Class sounds great, congratulations! For a seminar I taught at UC Santa Cruz on the history of the online world the main assignments were biweekly readings, which we then discussed in class, and a final project. The “midterm” was a description of the proposed final project. The finals consisted of both a live presentation and the project itself, which could either be a paper or, for the technically or artistically minded, software or other digital content. The seminar was in the Computational Media department, so students had a range of skills from modeling autonomous vehicles to game design. I don’t know if you can reasonably ask your CS students to do something different and potentially more technical than the others for a final project, but if so that might be something to consider. Because Covid switched the seminar to Zoom, I could easily bring in more guest speakers than originally planned including Ted Nelson, Andy van Dam, and Paul Lindner of Gopher. I asked students to prepare questions for the speakers, whom they had also read some background on. If you have a decent screen in your classroom you might try bringing in a couple of remote guest speakers that way. Best, Marc
On Jun 30, 2022, at 14:04, Nabeel Siddiqui <nasiddiqui@email.wm.edu> wrote:
Hi Evan,
Congratulations on your first time working as an adjunct instructor. Seems like you taught a wonderful class!
In terms of the assignment, I don’t have any specific suggestions, but I would ask you to think about what you are hoping to accomplish in changing your assignments first before doing so. When advising faculty in our Center for Teaching and Learning, I usually ask faculty to go through a three prong process roughly based on backward-design:
1. What are the learning objectives of the course? 2. What assessments/assignments would allow a student to demonstrate that they are meeting those objectives? 3. What are the readings/skills you need to impart on the student to allow them to complete the assessment/assignment?
Without the learning objective, it isn’t really clear why you are changing your assignments. Why does a student viewing a class as an easy A matter? Ideally, a student should be able to easily demonstrate the learning objectives if proper pedagogical practices are followed. I would caution against viewing harsher grading as a way to motivate your students. Have you reached out to NJIT's Institute for Teaching Excellence? I am also happy to talk to you about syllabus design and assignments through email privately if you would prefer.
Sincerely, Nabeel
On Jun 30, 2022, at 2:41 PM, Christine Finn <christine.finn@gmail.com <mailto:christine.finn@gmail.com>> wrote:
Hi Evan,
For a decade, I taught Silicon Valley as a type of contemporary archaeology fieldwork at the University of Bristol, UK.
My first assignment each year was in the classroom, asking students to recall their personal tech history, ie what they used, what they discarded. It might sound a bit light, but it brought up some deep discussion, and you could set it as an essay.
That question is the basis of the long duree sequel to "Artifacts".
cheers,
Christine
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London Author: Artifacts: an archaeologist's year in Silicon Valley (MIT Press)
On Thu, 30 Jun 2022 at 20:14, Koblentz, Evan A <evan.koblentz@njit.edu <mailto:evan.koblentz@njit.edu>> wrote: This week I received my course evaluations from our spring semester. It was my first time working as an adjunct instructor. The student evaluations of my knowledge and teaching were great, the only exception being that everyone ranked the assignments as average, easy, or very easy.
The assignments were: - multiple choice quiz at the start of each class, to ensure the students read the homework chapters - midterm with 10 open-ended questions - final paper
For those who teach similar courses (survey of the history of computing), what kind of assignments do you give? Also what sort of in-class group projects do you assign? I'm looking for new ideas. There is some concern that CS students might take my course with the expectation of it being an easy A. (It's not, but still I think it needs to be more challenging for them.) _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org <http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ <http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/> and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org <http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org>_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org <http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ <http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/> and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org <http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org>
This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
Dear Evan, Great to hear that your course went well! I would love to set up some kind of peer group of people teaching history of computing, particularly those who teach to computer science students, though I’m not quite at that point yet myself (should be in the next couple of years). I have had experience with two courses: the Master’s level History of Digital Cultures taught at University of Amsterdam by Gerard Alberts, on which I worked as a TA for three years; and 3rd year undergraduate Invention and Innovation in Computing taught at Swansea University by John Tucker, which I have seen peripherally but have not directly taught on. HDC is block taught: the students work only on this module for a month. IIC is much longer and thinner: spread over the whole academic year, students take it alongside seven other modules. However, both use somewhat similar assessments: presentations and a final report. HDC students work in groups of 3-6, researching a historical topic of their choosing, and deliver at least one presentation a week. They also submit their ongoing report progress each week. They receive feedback throughout, but are given a final mark based on their final report and presentation. Each team also delivers a presentation at the start of week 2 on one chapter from Computer (Campbell-Kelly et al) and one other piece of literature related to their project topic. IIC students work individually, also on research topics of their choice, and throughout semester 2, student presentations replace the lectures. At the end, they deliver written reports. In both modules, the reports are held to the standards of scholarly work in the history of computing. No examinations are sat. Both of these appear to work rather well, and it’s not too difficult to see why, given that the presentation and the monograph are the standard ways to share research results in history. For the module I’m (slowly) devising I plan to have a written report as the final marked assessment and probably also include marked presentations. I was also considering having students submit podcast-style audio recordings in which they discuss their findings in small groups—since the podcast is an increasingly popular way to consume historical material. For the assignments you mention, I’m not totally sure how to interpret the words. Quiz seems straightforward; does “midterm” denote an essay? And likewise “paper”? Perhaps as a “survey” course you aren’t expecting students to perform historical research themselves? That might make the assessments of the kind mentioned in HDC and IIC inapplicable. Best, Dr. Troy Kaighin Astarte (they/them / nhw) Lecturer, Computer Science / Darlithydd, Cyfrifiadureg Swansea University / Prifysgol Abertawe For students: my office hours are Wednesday (online) and Friday (CoFo 407 & online), 10–1100. I fyfyrwyr: fy oriau swyddfa yw dydd Mercher (ar-lein) a dydd Gwener (CoFo 407 ac ar-lein), 10–1100. https://swanseauniversity.zoom.us/my/t.k.astarte Every email has a cost to the climate. Please think before sending short emails. Mae gan bob e-bost gost i’r hinsawdd. Meddyliwch cyn i chi anfon e-byst byr. On 30 Jun 2022, at 19:13, Koblentz, Evan A <evan.koblentz@njit.edu<mailto:evan.koblentz@njit.edu>> wrote: This week I received my course evaluations from our spring semester. It was my first time working as an adjunct instructor. The student evaluations of my knowledge and teaching were great, the only exception being that everyone ranked the assignments as average, easy, or very easy. The assignments were: - multiple choice quiz at the start of each class, to ensure the students read the homework chapters - midterm with 10 open-ended questions - final paper For those who teach similar courses (survey of the history of computing), what kind of assignments do you give? Also what sort of in-class group projects do you assign? I'm looking for new ideas. There is some concern that CS students might take my course with the expectation of it being an easy A. (It's not, but still I think it needs to be more challenging for them.) _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
participants (5)
-
Christine Finn -
Koblentz, Evan A -
Marc Weber -
Nabeel Siddiqui -
Troy Astarte