1. Software Engineering / Computer Science
SPARC: Self-Paced Learning Increases Retention and Capacity Teaching fairly and teaching well
Jeff Offutt
Software Engineering / Computer Science

2. Would you believe me if I told you
that reading powerpoint aloud is not the same as teaching
© Jeff Offutt

3. Teacher Who Am I? Country boy from Appalachia
Dad: Steffi (26), Joyce (22), Andrew (14)
Husband: Jian
Instructor: College at all levels
Coach: Basketball, Odyssey of the Mind, Baseball
Editor: Research journal
Scientist: >175 published papers
Author: Software testing book
Teacher
© Jeff Offutt

4. George Mason University
34,904 students (Fall 2016)
24,000 undergraduate
8,200 MS
2,200 PhD
500 Professional
Most diverse university in the country
148 buildings – plus 4 under construction
Campuses in Prince William County, Arlington, and Korea
Opened as branch of UVA in 1957
Full university in 1972
About 12,000 students in 1992, 20,000 in 1999
Total operating budget : $1,001 million
Research expenditures : $102 million
© Jeff Offutt

5. Tools of the trade My evolution My Background Up until ~2013 chalk
whiteboards
ppt
internet
Up until ~2013
My evolution
Demander
Collaborator
Leader
Judger
Encourager
© Jeff Offutt

6. Eric Mazur Taught Me Better
Students learn only slightly more from great lecturers than from poor lecturers
Students learn a lot more from active learning exercises
© Jeff Offutt

7. Talk less; teach more Giving lectures is not teaching
But they are addictive
And slides become a crutch
Talk less; teach more
© Jeff Offutt
Supported by Google’s 3X Capacity Program

8. 5-Min. Small-Group Discussion
Do you believe this?
Do you like to lecture?
Can you say
“cognitive dissonance”?
© Jeff Offutt
Supported by Google’s 3X Capacity Program

9. Benefits of Active Exercises
More student engagement
Students stay awake—passively listening is hard !
Increased collaboration
An important and useful skill post-college
Many students enjoy learning together
Increased peer-learning
Students can learn a lot from each other
They can help each other work through difficult concepts and can often understand their difficulties better than professors do
Increased attendance
The return-on-investment analysis becomes much easier
Students feel they are respected
© Jeff Offutt

10. Types of Active Exercises
Discussion
Writing
Examples
Problem-solving
Games or role playing
© Jeff Offutt

11. But … Switching is Hard! “Ya can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
Habits die hard
We have huge investments in lectures
Lots of powerpoint slides
How do we manage this kind of change?
© Jeff Offutt

12. I’m trying to be self-persuasive …
Thus, My Current Motto
Talk less; teach more
I’m trying to be self-persuasive …
© Jeff Offutt

13. Challenges Timing the class is harder with active exercises
The classroom infrastructure is important
Tables, movable desks, immovable desks, rising rows
Encouraging collaboration can be challenging
Many students are not used to collaboration
Some do not play well with others
Some students prefer competition
Encouraging diversity of thinking
A start of an argument or an opportunity for growth?
Changing your habits
Preparation and your experience in the classroom is very different
Your interaction—deciding when to step in
© Jeff Offutt

14. Classroom Layout Matters
© Jeff Offutt

15. Full-Room Discussion How can you do this in your classes?
Questions about in-class exercises?
How much time do you spend on in-class exercises?
How often did your college professors use in-class exercises?
© Jeff Offutt
Supported by Google’s 3X Capacity Program

16. My Next Step in Evolution
Why is learning to program hard?
Poor tools?
Logical thinking?
It’s too complicated?
NO!
We punish students for the most natural way to learn:
Collaboration
© Jeff Offutt

17. I think most people are honest
Cheating
I think most people are honest
But many will cheat if they think the system is rigged against them
© Jeff Offutt

18. Small-Group Discussion
How much cheating do you find in your classes?
Are they truly dishonest people?
© Jeff Offutt
Supported by Google’s 3X Capacity Program

19. Self-PAced Learning increases Retention and Capacity
SPARC
Self-PAced Learning increases Retention and Capacity
George Mason University is replacing the “traditional” course model for CS-1 and CS-2 with an innovative “black-belt” teaching model that features:
Self-paced learning
Peer instruction
Separate collaborative practice and individualized assessments
Flipped classrooms
Automated grading (JUnit)
Multiple attempts at assessments
© Jeff Offutt

20. SPARC Team
Paul Ammann, Kinga Dobolyi, Chris Kauffman, Jaime Lester, Jeff Offutt, Upsorn Praphamontripong, Huzefa Rangwala, Sanjeev Setia, Pearl Wang, Liz White
© Jeff Offutt

21. Challenges from the Surge
Retention of students
Retaining educational quality
Our definition of “traditional courses”
Use the same assignments for practice and assessment
Collaboration is always cheating
Catching cheaters a major priority
All students must complete assignments synchronously
Class meetings are almost entirely lectures
First year classes are diverse
Gender, ancestry, pre-knowledge, learning styles & speed
Fourth year classes are not diverse
© Jeff Offutt

22. Impacts on Diversity Increasing enrollment often leads to competition
Classes, TA time, professor time, grades, …
Educational research indicates average differences
17-22 year old white and asian males thrive under competition
17-22 year old females and minorities thrive with collaboration
Studies from NCWIT, SACS, and NSF conclude that “just say no” introduces gender- and racial-bias
Ways to encourage diversity :
Collaboration, not competition
Building resilience
Obviating cheating
Peer learning
Self-pacing
Encouraging success
Multiple attempts
© Jeff Offutt

23. The SPARC Model Self-paced demonstration of skills and knowledge
Online content delivery (flipped)
Ten stages (belts) in a course
Each stage has multiple practice and assessment problems
Students practice programming during class
Collaboratively (peer learning)
Instructors and TAs offer help and “mini-lectures”
Students demonstrate skills individually in labs (assessments)
Self-paced learning
Grading is automated (Junit)
Up to five attempts are allowed
Automated intervention alert system
© Jeff Offutt

24. What do you want clarified? Have you used any of these techniques?
Full-Room Discussion
What do you want clarified?
Have you used any of these techniques?
© Jeff Offutt
Supported by Google’s 3X Capacity Program

25. SPARC Classroom
© Jeff Offutt

26. SPARC Resources SPARC website
UTA training materials (classroom & labs)
SPARC program problems (practice & assessment)
PCE training materials
The MaGE project (Mount Holyoke)
© Jeff Offutt

27. What Is Working Really Well
Collaboration
Peer learning (UTAs)
Having multiple attempts to pass
Separating assessment from practice
No cheating
Multiple attempts
Self-pacing (with caveats …)
No cheating
© Jeff Offutt

28. What Has Been Hard Breaking the semester barrier
Incompletes, in-progress, course hours
Procrastination versus a legitimate need for more time to master programming
Software is hard to build!
Especially at universities
Recruiting good UTAs
Comparing SPARC sections with non-SPARC sections
Gathering data
Getting the right learning spaces
© Jeff Offutt

29. Data and Observations
Numeric comparisons with “traditional” classes CS 1, 8 sections, 4 semesters > 550 students
Cheating reduced from 10%-20% to one
Pass rate slightly higher by the end of semesters (same instructor)
Many students pass after end of semesters
Similar scores on shared final exam questions
© Jeff Offutt

30. Data and Observations Survey data Anecdotes
Final grades significantly correlated with :
Perceived helpfulness of UTAs
Perceived helpfulness of sample assessments
Perceived helpfulness of practice problems
Anecdotes
SPARC students say the class is much less stressful
SPARC students feel they are respected
Teacher finds this method much more satisfying
Student-teacher relationship is much better
Instructor doubled the number of sections with only a minor increase in workload
© Jeff Offutt

31. Final Discussion What pieces do you think might work for you?
What do you think won’t work?
© Jeff Offutt
Supported by Google’s 3X Capacity Program

32. Contact Jeff Offutt offutt@gmu.edu http://cs.gmu.edu/~offutt/
Talk less; teach more
© Jeff Offutt