Onto the next chapter, Laptops in Computer Science: Creating the “Learning Studio.” The Data Structures class in this example looks to suffer from the problem typical of a large lecture & lab course. The lab is taught by someone other than the main faculty member and the lectures get out of sync. There was also a lack in consistency in lecture and lab due to problems with who was leading them. With a small department Augsburg should have consistent courses. The problems they’re trying to solve shouldn’t be ones Augsburg has to worry about. While our Data Structures course does have a lab, the lab is taught by the faculty member.
The redesigned course used online self-assessment quizzes in the CMS to help shape the daily lecture. It’s interesting to see this strategy again. And it doesn’t have anything to do with laptops — just a student-centered just-in-time-teaching approach. In addition to the lecture, they added a lecture exercise (lex). The lex is a directed small-group exploration of the topic of the day with the faculty and TA available for help if needed. In their conclusion, they essentially say that this is an exercise in active learning. Again, laptops not required. But flexible space is key. And flexible space is inefficient and rows are efficient. Hopefully by the end of these articles I won’t be sneaking into work at 2 AM to re-arrange the labs!
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