adaptive collaborative unix meta-tutorial for computer science students
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Adaptive Hypermedia & Assistive Technologies. Adaptive Collaborative Unix Meta-tutorial for computer science students. Rosta Farzan, Masters Student Math & Computer Science Department California State University, Hayward [email protected]. Hilary J. Holz, Asst Professor - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Adaptive Collaborative Unix Meta-tutorial
for computer science students
Adaptive Hypermedia & Assistive Technologies
Rosta Farzan, Masters StudentMath & Computer Science DepartmentCalifornia State University, Hayward
Hilary J. Holz, Asst ProfessorMath & Computer Science DepartmentCalifornia State University, Hayward
Less exposure to informal education
Less experience in computing skills such as Unix
Lower retention rate of female students in computer science
Less Confidence & Interest in computer science
Percentage of CS/CE degrees Granted to Women
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
1993/941994/951995/961996/971997/981998/991999/2000
2000/01
Academic Year
Taulbee BS
Taulbee MS
Taulbee Ph.D
[3]
Goals
• Help students – understand Unix concepts– make use of online resources
• Remove some barriers of equity in computer science program
Objectives
• Supporting collaboration through leaving traces
• Supporting adaptation through clustering
• Collect quantitative data– Within a small cohort of 10
students
• Collect qualitative data– Two cohorts of
50 students
Research at Carnegie Mellon University
Percentage of Women Entering CS @ CMU
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
1995/96 1998/99 2000/01
Academic Year
“Organize Workshops to teach UNIX and questions that the women feel are stupid to ask [1]”
Main problems in bringing & retaining of female students
• Experience gap• Confidence doubts• Curriculum and pedagogy• Peer culture
[1]
Feminist Pedagogy
Research in Mathematics Education
• Subjective Knowers & connected Knowers– Acquire knowledge
• Listening to themselves• Accessing others’ experiences
• Female students gain more in collaborative environment
[4]
Exceptional program @ California State University, Hayward
High ratio of female and minority students
Percentage of female enrollment in BS/MS CS program @ CSUH vs Other
schools
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Academic Year
BS @ CUSH
Taulbee BS
MS @ CSUH
Taulbee MS
[2]
Research at California State University, Hayward
Traditional curriculum and classroom design does not meet female and minorities students’ need
One female ?!
Online courses
• Flexibility
• Learning at their own time and pace
No coherent approach to help students move from Windows to Unix
[6]
Adaptive Collaborative Online Unix Meta-Tutorial
Learn about Online Resources & Communities
Learning Unix Concepts
AdaptationIndividual Learning
Style
Individual Objectives
Individual Preferences
Student Modeling
Usability issues
Clusteringbased on interaction behavior
No questionnaireNo Username & Password
Collaboration - Social Navigation
– Closer to what happens in the traditional classroom
– Learners leave notes for themselves as well
as others
– Encouraging to write notes change the status of learners from passive to active
Footprints on the sand of time are not made by sitting down
Collaborate through following footprints of others
[7]
Online Tutorial
Perl Monk
Learn from online communities
Online Tutorial
• Just in Time Learning– Learning with efficiency– At student’s own pace– Anytime & any location
• Address non-traditional students’ need
Prerequisite for many computer science core courses
Most schools do not offer a traditional course to teach Unix skills
Not possible to teach Unix in formal classes
[6]
Meta-Tutorial
<name> File permission </name><language> English </language> <audience> <beneficiary> beginner </beneficiary> <level> hard </level></audience><relation> <IsDetailsOf>fileMgmnt</IsDetailsOf></relation><comment> useful information </comment>
• Metadata assigned to each section – Using XML– Dublin Core set [10]
– Gateway to Educational Material (GEM) set [14]
– Our own defined set
• Annotated & Categorized links to existing resources– Graphical (e.g. Color) &
text annotation
Initial Hypotheses
• Less use of online resources• Pages with graphics• Less use of communication tools• More reading of comments
• Follow the given order• Less details or depth• Less use of online resources• Less use of communication tools• Spend more time on introductory pages
Female
Beginner
First phase: Data Collection
• Early in the design process– Avoid extra cost &
complicationGoal: Cognitive
model of computer science students’ behavior
• Preliminary survey among 300-350 computer science students
• Task based interview– Tutorial with similar
characteristics
Description of Cohorts
• Interview subsequent cohort of 10 students– Female, Male,
different age group, various level of knowledge
• Preliminary Survey– Freshman
• Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Methods
– Sophomore • Programming Language Concepts,
and Data Structures and Algorithms
– Junior• Web Site Development, and
Introduction to Systems Programming
– Graduate level• Software Engineering of Web Based
System.
Summary
• Human subject involvement– First time in computer science
department @ CSUH • Departmental approval• Process of Institutional Review Board
approval
Summary
• Data collection - First formal phase– Collect finely structures data – Build the cognitive model of computer
science behavior
• Implementation– Build database (postgreSQL)– Implement the system (Perl)– Build metadata set
Sponsors
• California State University Hayward Foundation Inc.
• ACCLAIM– Alameda County Collaborative for Learning and Instruction in Mathematics
• CREW– Collaborative Research Experience for Women
References
8. Dove Chocolate9.http://www.clipart.com10. http://dublincore.org11.http://sourceforge.net
12. http://www.acm.org13.http://www.w3c.org14. http://www.geminfo.org15. http://www.perlmonks.org16. http://unix.org
1. Blum, L. (2001). Women in Computer Science: The Carnegie Mellon Experience2. California State University, Hayward. Institutional Research and Analysis.
3. CRA Taulbee Trends: Women Students & Faculty, (2002).
4. Jacobs, E. J., Becker R. J. Multicultural and Gender Equity. General Yearbook Editor, Boston College.
5. Kelly, E. A., Lesh A. R. (2002). Design Experiments in Mathematics Education. 6. Sawhney, H. and Farzan, R. (2002). Teaching Unix Skills to Undergraduate and
Graduate Students in Computer Science.7. Wexelblat, A. and Maes, P. (1999), Footprints: History-Rich Tools for Information
Foraging