CS 2910: Schedule

This page does not represent the most current semester of this course; it is present merely as an archive.

The main time commitment of this course is being a TA. Three hours per week of your TAship this semester is unpaid and counts as the principle assignment of this course. If you are enrolled for two or more credits of 2910, you need to work (credits × 3) hours per week unpaid for this course. There will also be some meetings and other activities, as outlined below.

Some sessions will be mandatory (topics like ethics and diversity) and others optional (topics like learning theories and TPEGS). You will be required to attend all required sessions and a subset of the optional sessions. Attending additional instances of the same session does not count toward your minimum optional session count.

Meeting Times

We have three meetings each week; you need to attend only one of them, and may switch which one week-to-week if you wish.

Scheduled Sessions

Scheduled optional Session

October 23–26

TA Panels. This session is optional.

Experienced TAs will sit on a Q&A Panel.

Panelists TBA

Come with questions!

October 30–November 2

Structuring a lecture. This session is optional.

Tips and ideas for organizing thoughts into a classroom presentation.

November 6–9

Cheating and evaluation. This session is optional.

Discussion of how we evaluate knowledge and how different models encourage or discourage cheating.

November 13–16

Professor’s teaching philosophy. This session is optional.

In which various faculty present whatever they wish about their approach to teaching.

Monday 13: Aaron Bloomfield
Wednesday 15: Luther Tychonievich
Thursday 16: Mark Sherriff

November 27–30

Course design: Engagement. This session is optional.

Discussions of gamification and other techniques to changing engagement in a course

Past Sessions

Required Sessions

September 4–7

Welcome, and ethics of TAing. This session is required.

Please read the advice from previous TAs on professionalism, amount of work (including “when there are too many students”), TAing your friends, and ask questions before this week’s 2910 meeting.

My lecture notes outline is available.

September 11–14

Teaching, tutoring, mentoring, and learning. This session is required.

Please skim the advice from previous TAs on preparation, failed explanations, listening, and answering questions before this week’s 2910 meeting.

My lecture notes outline is available.

September 18–21

Diversity. This session is required.

My lecture notes outline is available.

September 25–28

Problem Students. This session is required.

My lecture notes outline is available.

October 4–9

Grading. This session is required.

Part 1: the theory of grading, its objectives, challenges, and alternatives.

Part 2: the practice of grading, making difficult calls, fairness, and appeals.

October 11–16

Diversity, part 2. This session is required.

My lecture notes outline is available.

Optional sessions that were not scheduled

TBA

So you want to be a teacher…. This session is optional.

Observations about teaching CS in public and private gradeschools and highschools. Upon request, information about being faculty at 2- and 4-year colleges and as research- or teaching-focussed university faculty may be added.

TBA

CS education research: an overview. This session is optional.

What is CS education research, what does it tell us, and how could you do it? This session will be a survey of the field.

TBA

Course (re)Design. This session is optional.

A discussion of course design principles and a brief experiencing (re)designing a single course.

TBA

Curriculum Blue-Sky. This session is optional.

A brainstorming group on how to redesign the entire CS curriculum