A New Learning Environment for Computer Science 1 Courses

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First semester computer science (CSI) courses are taught today using the same instructional model as was used twenty years ago - standup lectures continue to be the only contact between instructors and students and the primary method for delivering instruction. Lectures limit interaction and set a lock-step pace for the entire class. Because of the large enrollments in CSl courses, students receive little graded feedback about their progress and many fall far behind without realizing it. Student performance and interest drops due to their inability to get individual problems addressed, a lack of nurturing, and a lack of motivation. Lectures are filled with basic instruction, which allows little time for highlighting the interesting research and exciting applications that bring students to the CS program in the first place. We propose to address these problems by adding a significant courseware component to CS1. Our objective is to create a new learning environment with increased interaction, higher student performance, greater flexibility and more feedback. We can also increase access to CS1 instruction for non-CS majors and high school students. We have developed a courseware package called ALECS, which consists of hypertext, graphics, voice annotations, animations, exercises, case studies, and closed labs. We have used ALECS to make dramatic changes in the structure of CS1. In this project, we will extend ALECS to better support our new learning environment, add tracking and reporting features to help us assess ALECS' impact on learning, and make it easier for other university and high schools to adapt ALECS to their own needs. We have already begun partnerships with several high schools. High school teachers have been using ALECS in their classrooms and for their own training.