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ERIC Number: ED405830
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1996
Pages: 11
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
A Process Education Approach To Teaching Computer Science.
Smith, Peter D.
The driving force of process education is its focus on students'"learning to learn." This paper describes an approach to teaching computer science which includes classroom management; the adaptation of four different courses to follow the process education approach; successes achieved; and students' responses. The courses are conducted in closed labs, a shift from lecture-centered to lab-centered teaching. Team projects are assigned and each member of each four-person team is given a defined role to assume: team captain, recorder, reflector and spokesperson. At the end of each class, the team is responsible for producing a report of the work products for the class period. In addition, students keep journals with one entry for each class. At the end of the first two weeks, students choose the weight they wish to assign to each aspect of the course. By the fourth week, teams are cooperating fully, and students are convinced they are learning better. Journals are collected at least four times a semester and grades are assigned on how conscientiously they were completed. A mid-course assessment is also scheduled where teams are asked to brainstorm and come up with better ways to organize the class. Each of the four computer science courses that were adapted to use process education is project-oriented and to a certain extent a lab-centered course. With process education, the role of the teacher changed from that of lecturer to one taking on the roles of leader, assessor, facilitator, and evaluator. An appendix describes the team roles and lists performance criteria for each role. (Contains eight references.) (AEF)
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A
Note: In: Association of Small Computer Users in Education (ASCUE) Summer Conference Proceedings (29th, North Myrtle Beach, SC, June 9-13, 1996); see IR 018 247.