| Week | Monday |
|---|---|
| 1 | October 2 1. Welcome to CS298 presentation:small Slides, [PDF] document:small Handout: CS298 Course Syllabus book_1:small Reading: Your First Year Teaching Computer Science, Chapter 1 and 2 Introductions, course administration and expectations. We will discuss teaching pedagogy in general, and the teachers that motivated you to stay in education as long as you have. We will also discuss some of the challenges with teaching, and with teaching computer science in general. |
| 2 | October 9 2. Know Your Students, Know Your Subject, Know Your Tools presentation:small Slides, [PDF] book_1:small Reading: Your First Year Teaching Computer Science, Chapters 3, 4 and 5 As a teacher, you should always know your audience, and your students are your audience. We will discuss knowing your students. We will also discuss being proficient in computer science and what that means. Finally, we will discuss some of the tools you may want to become familiar with to better teach your course. |
| 3 | October 16 3. Planning Your Course and Creating Awesome Assignments presentation:small Slides, [PDF] book_1:small Reading: Your First Year Teaching Computer Science, Chapters 6 and 7. We will discuss how to plan out a CS course, and we will discuss awesome assignments you have seen that you love. We will also discuss how to create new awesome assignments, and where to find inspiration for great assignments. |
| 4 | October 23 4. Lectures presentation:small Slides, book_1:small Reading: Your First Year Teaching Computer Science, Chapter 8 code:small Code If you teach at the collegiate level, you may spend a lot of time lecturing, and we will discuss strategies for lecturing well. We will also discuss other options that don't involve talking at students for an hour. |
| 5 | October 30 5. Grading presentation:small Slides book_1:small Reading: Your First Year Teaching Computer Science, Chapter 9 Classes are getting bigger, and that makes gradiing harder. We will discuss tools and strategies to make grading as efficient as possibile, while making sure that students get the feedback they deserve. |
| 6 | November 6 6. Online Resources presentation:small Slides book_1:small Reading: Your First Year Teaching Computer Science, Chapter 10 There are a tremendous number of online computer science resources, to both teach and practice. We will look at some of my favorites, and search for others. |
| 7 | November 13 7. Observing Others Teach, and Reflecting on Your Own Teaching, and Handling Feedback presentation:small Slides book_1:small Reading: Your First Year Teaching Computer Science, Chapters 11 and 12 One of the best ways to see how teaching is done well is to observe the masters teach. We will discuss how to best observe a classroom, and how to learn from the experience. We will also talk about how to collect and handle feedback from your studnets, which is a critical part of understanding how you are doing in the classroom. |
| - | November 20 No Class -- Thanksgiving Week |
| 8 | November 27 8. Staying Current on and Contributing to CS Education Research presentation:small Slides, [PDF] book_1:small Reading: Your First Year Teaching Computer Science, Chapter 13 Computer Science pedagogy has a robust research community, and you should try and keep up to date on some of the latest ideas in the craft. We will discuss how to do that, and the various venues and publications where you can find (and possibly contribute) great ideas. |
| 9 | December 4 9. Interaction with Students: Office Hours, Meetings, Advising, and Writing Recommendation Letters. Also: Choose Your Battles! presentation:small Slides, [PDF] book_1:small Reading: Your First Year Teaching Computer Science, Chapters 14 & 15 You will likely spend more time each day meeting with your students than you do in lecture. Whether it is for office hours or in individual meetings, you should have strategies for your meetings. You will also have to write recommendation letters (potentially many of them), and we will talk about strategies for doing so. We will also wrap up the course with a caution about taking on too much work during your first year. |