Collaborative Research: Assessing and Expanding the Impact of OpenDSA, an Open-Source, Interactive eTextbook for Data Structures and Algorithms

OpenDSA是一个与国际合作的开源项目，有可能从根本上改变数据结构和算法(DSA)以及形式语言和自动机(FLA)课程的教学。通过将教科书质量的内容与可视化和丰富的自动评估互动练习集合相结合，OpenDSA帮助学生更好地了解算法的行为及其随着时间的推移对数据结构的影响。该项目将以多种方式扩大OpenDSA。在FLA上进行互动教学的非常成功的JFLAP软件将使用HTML5标准在OpenDSA框架内重新部署，从而增加访问。广泛的学院和大学将参与传播OpenDSA并评估其对学生学习的影响，并将探索OpenDSA在一些创新的教学环境中的使用。OpenDSA基础设施将得到丰富，允许教师根据其特定的课堂需求定制材料，并鼓励这些教师提供新的内容。将进行一些技术教学实验，例如测量在幻灯片中用音频叙述增加内容的效果，以及用概念图在主题中导航。一项关于这些材料如何改善一系列课程的教学的研究，这些课程都有相关的内容。这些努力将对未来积极的电子课本项目产生影响，通过展示在开放源码的创造性共用环境中整合内容、互动性和评估的成功方法，重点关注将内容与可视化相结合对学生学习的影响，以及将丰富的练习与自动反馈相结合。此外，该项目将研究使用电子课本材料如何影响DSA和FLA课程讲师不断发展的教学方法，并将与商业在线内容出版商一起试验开放源码内容的新传播模式。

OpenDSA is an open source project with international collaboration that has the potential to fundamentally change instruction in courses on Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) and Formal Languages and Automata (FLA). By combining textbook-quality content with visualization and a rich collection of automatically assessed interactive exercises, OpenDSA helps students better understand the behavior of algorithms and their effects over time on data structures. This project will scale up OpenDSA in a number of ways. The highly successful JFLAP software for interactive instruction on FLA will be redeployed within the OpenDSA framework using HTML5 standards, thereby increasing access. A wide range of colleges and universities will be involved in disseminating OpenDSA and assessing its impact on student learning, and OpenDSA's use in a number of innovative instructional settings will be explored. The OpenDSA infrastructure will be enriched, allowing instructors to tailor the materials to their specific classroom needs, and encouraging new content contributions from these instructors. A number of technical pedagogical experiments will be conducted, such as measuring the effects of augmenting content with audio narration in slideshows, and navigation through topics with concept maps. A study of how these materials can improve teaching in a range of courses for which relevant content was created. These efforts will have an impact on future active eTextbook projects by demonstrating successful ways to integrate content, interactivity, and assessment in an open-source, creative-commons environment by focusing on the effects on student learning of integrating content with visualizations and a rich collection of practice exercises with automated feedback. In addition, this project will study how using eTextbook materials affects the evolving pedagogical approaches of instructors of DSA and FLA courses and will experiment with new models of dissemination for open-source content in conjunction with commercial online content publishers.