Innovative Teaching Practices in Computing Education: The TLA Project Jan Holden and Alison Young, UNITEC, New Zealand {jholden,ayoung}@unitec.ac.nz In 1998 UNITEC Institute o f Technology in Auckland, New Zealand, carried out a scheduled Quality Management System (QMS) monitoring process, which was a self-evaluation o f course delivery and assessment [1] This internal audit was validated in 1999 by an external audit by two independent people (Grace Sylvester, MIT, Auckland and Andrew Gonczi, UTS, Sydney) [2] A key recommendation arising out o f these reports was that there should be institution-wide academic staff developfiaent initiatives that give priority to improving: ¢ ¢ ¢ the quality o f learning outcomes teaching, so that the focus shifts from content to learner assessment practice professional development, linked with performance appraisal is also included Students will play a part in the development o f the learning strategies and their input into what helps them learn will be incorporated into the implementation o f the strategies. One o f the main areas o f innovation will be the development o f new assessment practices. In our evolving learning environment that is categorized by such innovations as the trend towards electronic delivery, methods o f assessment that have been used for many years may no longer be appropriate. Innovative new methods will be sought and implemented to not only ensure rigorous scrutiny but also encourage student learning and development. This poster presentation is a " w o r k in progress" which will outline the goals for 2001, the strategies that have been developed, and the progress to date in implementing those strategies. [1] UNITEC Institute o f Technology, Audit o f QMS Element 9: A s a result the School o f Information Systems and Computing appointed a faculty member as the Teaching, Learning and Assessment (TLA) coordinator to address this recommendation in relation to the undergraduate computing courses. Strategies being developed within the teaching area include a model o f reflective practice for faculty, identification o f competencies o f a "good teacher", and the sharing o f innovative methods and best practice. A n emphasis on targeting appropriate Programme Delivery and Assessment. Report, UNITEC: Auckland, 1998 [2] Self Evaluation Gonczi, A and Sylvester, G. Audit o f Programme Delivery and Assessment at UNITEC. UNITEC: Auckland, 1999 Motivation = Value x Expectancy Tony Jenkins, University of Leeds, UK, tony@cornp.leeds.ac.uk Instructors are often tempted to blame a lack o f activity (or learning) on the part o f their students on a lack o f motivation. Students are no longer motivated to learn and, if they are motivated at all, their only aim is an eventual highly paid career. They are prepared to expend only the minimum effort necessary to achieve this. This is not so. Motivation is a complicated concept - it is hard to quantify in any meaningful sense, and what motivates one individual may demotivate another. It is possible to observe a student, or a class, and to infer their likely type and level o f motivation, but it is not possible to be certain. One view o f motivation sees it as a function o f two factors, value and expectancy [3]: m o t i v a t i o n = v a l u e x expectancy These two factors are said to multiply, rather than add, since there will be no motivation if either factor falls to zero. A student must value the learning to be gained, and must expect success in assessment. Much existing work on presenting basic computing concepts to "unmotivated" classes focuses on motivating students through arousing their interest (for example, [I], [2], [4], [5]) thus addressing the "value" part o f the formula. Little has been done to consider how instructors should ensure that their students will expect success. This poster will present some o f the influences at work on a student's motivation, and will consider which an instructor can reasonably expect to influence. [1] [2] Owen Astrachan, Hooks and Props in Teaching Programming, Proceedings o f ITiCSE '98, PP 21-24. Harriet J. Fell and Viera K. Proulx, Exploring Martian Planetary lmages: C++ Exercises for CS1, Proceedings o f SIGCSE '97, PP 30-34. John M. Keller, Motivational Design o f Instruction, In Charles M. Reigeluth (ed.), Instructional-Design Theories and Models: A n Overview o f their Current Status, PP 383464, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1983. [3] [4] Robert Moser, A fantasy adventure game as a learning environment: Why learning to program is so difficult and what can be done about it Proceedings o f ITiCSE '97, PP 114-116. [5] Eric V. Siegel, "'Why Do Fools Fall Into Infinite Loops: Singing To Your Computer Science Class", Proceedings o f ITiCSE '99, PP 167-170.

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