Assessment Details
Academic Year: 2021-2022 Level: Undergraduate
Campus Department: Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences [UG and Grad]
Program Type: Core [UG]
Program Name: Computer Science Core (Link)
Description of Data Collection:
Since CSCI1101 is also a required introductory course for the major, we have tended to assess it through that lens, looking at how well it prepares students for the next course. The evidence here is gotten through observation of the students’ work and discussion of what skills the students have acquired satisfactorily in the first course, where they appear to be deficient, etc.
Review Process:
We hold a year-end meeting of the department where curriculum matters are discussed. For CSCI1101, the team of instructors for the course meets to discuss how the students are faring, and this often translates into recommendations for curricular change.
Resulting Program Changes:
Some years ago, we made a major change to CS1 by switching the language in which it was taught from Java to Python. This change was based on some years of observation by CS1 instructors that led us to conclude that Java put some significant learning obstacles for introductory-level students at the very beginning of the course. After a year or two of experience with Python, we eliminated the unit in CSCI1101 concerning object-oriented programming in Python, because we found that it crowded out other material, and tended to be confusing rather than helpful for continuing students who went on to study object-oriented programming in Java.
Also, see the preamble to this report, concerning the split of CS1 into separate majors and non-majors courses. This change came about as a result of our assessment, largely reports from instructors of intermediate and advanced courses that many of our majors were deficient in essential skills. It was felt that trying to serve the needs of students coming from a variety of academic backgrounds had the effect of holding the majors back.
Date of Most Recent Program Review:
Some years ago, we made a major change to CS1 by switching the language in which it was taught from Java to Python. This change was based on some years of observation by CS1 instructors that led us to conclude that Java put some significant learning obstacles for introductory-level students at the very beginning of the course. After a year or two of experience with Python, we eliminated the unit in CSCI1101 concerning object-oriented programming in Python, because we found that it crowded out other material, and tended to be confusing rather than helpful for continuing students who went on to study object-oriented programming in Java.
Also, see the preamble to this report, concerning the split of CS1 into separate majors and non-majors courses. This change came about as a result of our assessment, largely reports from instructors of intermediate and advanced courses that many of our majors were deficient in essential skills. It was felt that trying to serve the needs of students coming from a variety of academic backgrounds had the effect of holding the majors back.
Attachments (if available)