Tracking an Innovation in Introductory CS
Education from a Research University to a
Two-Year College
Allison Elliott Tew and Mark Guzdial
Georgia Institute of Technology
Charles Fowler
Gainesville College
Overview
• Summary of Media Computation
Innovation at Georgia Tech
 Overview of successful results
• Adaptation at Gainesville College
 Results at Gainesville College
• Key Findings
• Current/Future Work
 Other Adoptions/Adaptations
What is Media Computation?
• Introductory CS course with focus on
 Learning to program and CS concepts within the
context of media manipulation and creation
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

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Converting images to grayscale/negatives
Splicing and reversing sounds
Writing programs to generate HTML web pages
Creating movies by sequencing images
 Computing for communication, not calculation
• For non-CS majors
 Liberal arts, management, architecture and biology
majors
Overview of Syllabus
• Programming Language
 Python
• Pictures
 Data structures, defining
functions, for loops, if
conditionals
• Sounds
 Data structures, defining
functions, for loops, if
conditionals
• Text
 Converting between media,
generating HTML
• Movies
• Traditional CS Topics
 Algorithms
 Representations
 Can’t we do this any
faster?
 Machine language,
interpreters, and compilers
 Algorithm complexity & limits
of computation
 Can’t we do this any
easier?
 Modularity, recursion, OO
Georgia Tech Results
Enrollment
Success
Rate
Georgia Tech’s CS 1
2000 - 2002
930
71.2%
Spring 2003
120
90.0%
Fall 2003
303
86.5%
Spring 2004
395
86.9%
Summer 2004
120
73.3%
Fall 2004
366
80.3%
(average)
Media Computation
Success Rate = (Students earning an A, B or C) or
(100% - students earning a D, F, or W)
Research Questions
• Innovation transfer
 Can the media computation
innovation be successfully
adopted/adapted at other
institutions?
 How do the student
experiences differ across
institutions?
• Related Work
 TeachScheme! Project
 Alice project
• Methodology
 Course Enrollment History
 Demographics
 Grade Distribution
 Student Surveys
 Initial: background,
expectations, goals for the
course
 Midterm: experience,
attitudes & perceptions
 Final: learning, experience,
attitudes & perceptions
Institutional Comparison
• Georgia Tech
 4 year Research University
 Engineering & science
 15,575 students
 27.1% Female
 72.9% Male
 1336 Average SAT
 Media Computation Course
 Computing requirement
 Enrollment ~ 260 - 265
• Gainesville College
 2 year Community College
 Liberal Arts
 5,000 students
 57.2% Female
 42.8% Male
 946 Average SAT
 Media Computation Course
 Elective course
 Enrollment ~ 20 - 22
Adaptation - Gainesville College
• Media Computation
adapted in introductory
course for students
without background for
traditional CS1 course
 Self-selected
placement into course
• CSCI 1100
 Course Content
 Media Computation
• Pictures
• Sound
 Computer Literacy
• Office Applications
• Internet/WWW
 Classroom computing
facilities
 Collaboration by
encouraging pair
programming
Gainesville College Results
Enrollment
Success
Rate
Gainesville’s CSCI 1100
2000 - 2003
28
70.2%
Summer 2003
9
77.8%
Fall 2003
39
84.6%
Spring 2004
22
77.3%
Summer 2004
11
90.9%
(average)
Media Computation
Success Rate = (Students earning an A, B or C) or
(100% - students earning a D, F, or W)
Georgia Tech & Gainesville Student
Populations
• Demographics
 Students were majority
female and Caucasian
 Women (average)
• 53.8% - Georgia Tech
• 69.2% - Gainesville
 Non-CS majors, but not
techno-phobic
 Architecture, Business,
Liberal Arts, Nursing,
Sciences, Undecided
• Student Goals for
Course
 90.0% of Gainesville
students were focused
on programming skills
and general computer
knowledge
 Georgia Tech students
were equally interested
in
 Getting a good/passing
grade
 Relevant skills for their
major
Relevance of Course Material
• Homework was not perceived as particularly relevant
 39.2% - Georgia Tech
 31.2% - Gainesville
• But majority of students at both institutions perceived
skills would be useful later in life
 59.9% - Georgia Tech
 56.2% - Gainesville
• Georgia Tech students saw greater relevance of course
material for career
 45.5% - Georgia Tech
 37.5% - Gainesville
Attitudes & Perceptions
• Almost all students at
both institutions reported
improved programming
skills
 91.6% - Georgia Tech
 87.5% - Gainesville
• Georgia Tech students
reported greater
confidence in their
programming abilities
(rated their programming skills as
strong or very strong)
 75.8% - Georgia Tech
 68.8% - Gainesville
• Gainesville students
reported greater
motivation to take
additional coursework in
 Media Computation
 50.0% - Gainesville
 42.6% - Georgia Tech
 Computer Science
 31.2% - Gainesville
 23.4% - Georgia Tech
Other Adoptions/Adaptations
• Media Computation
Courses
 Gainesville College
 Traditional CS1 now using
Media Computation
 University of Illinois Chicago
 University of California Santa Cruz
 Denison University
 First trial of Java materials
• Software
 DePauw University
 Algorithmic Art course
 Brandeis University
 Georgia Perimeter College
• Course Materials
 University of Maryland College Park
Insights
• Common in Adaptations
 Improvement in Success Rates
 Anecdotal evidence shows improvement in almost all
adaptations, but not always dramatic
 Attracting alternate student populations
 Increased female enrollment in courses
 Women & minorities are succeeding at the same rates as
male students
 Computer art, architecture
• Myriad of Variables - Not just the media
 Collaboration
 Online galleries of personally meaningful artifacts
Questions?