Collaborative Research: Peer Instruction in Computer Science

该合作项目以现有的STEM教育知识为基础，在三种不同类型机构的计算机课堂上考察同伴教学（PI）的价值、适应性和可采用性。这项工作为六个不同层次的计算机科学课程开发和传播课程材料（包括阅读测验、探索性作业、带有支持元数据的PI点击题）：CS0、CS1、CS2、计算机组织、计算机体系结构和计算理论。以前为CS1开发的媒体计算的同伴指导材料和拟议的AP CS原理课程（在Alice）正在通过一个公开的网站、研讨会、会议演讲和出版物，与新开发的PI材料一起扩展和传播。这项工作的更广泛的影响是，通过将以学生为中心的学习环境“同伴指导”引入一系列计算机课程，极大地改善了课堂气氛和学习成果。该项目评估了课堂材料、教师经验和学生的学习收获。初步探索了支持过程，使其他教师能够通过各种方法采用PI。此外，该项目还利用各种技术评估和报告在四门高级课程中使用PI所产生的各种形式的学习成果和学生态度，这些技术包括：测试前和测试后、比较考试成绩评估、课堂上常见的点击题和态度调查。

This collaborative project builds on existing STEM education knowledge by examining the value, adaptability, and adoptability of Peer Instruction (PI) in the computing classroom at three different types of institutions. The work develops and disseminates curricular materials (including reading quizzes, exploratory homework, PI clicker questions with supporting meta-data) for six computer science courses at different levels in the curriculum: CS0, CS1, CS2, computer organization, computer architecture, and theory of computation. Peer Instruction materials previously developed for CS1 in media computation and the proposed AP CS Principles course (in Alice) are being expanded and disseminated along with the newly developed PI materials through a publicly available web-site, a workshop, conference presentations, and publications.The broader impact of this work is to dramatically improve both classroom climate and learning gains by bringing a student-centered learning environment, Peer Instruction, to a range of computing courses. The project evaluates the classroom materials, the faculty experiences, and the student learning gains. A preliminary exploration is done of supportive processes to enable PI adoption by other faculty through a variety of methods. Additionally, the project assesses and reports on various forms of learning gains and student attitudes that result from PI use in the four higher level courses using a variety of techniques including: pre- and post-tests, comparative exam performance evaluation, common clicker questions during class-time, and an attitudinal survey.