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In this episode, Sarah Heckman from North Carolina State University and our host discuss the Peer Teaching Summit at SIGCSE Technical Symposium 2022. We cover what a peer teacher is, more commonly known as an undergraduate or graduate teaching assistant, and how they support student help-seeking. The summit brought together many people with peer teachers at their schools where they discussed what they can and cannot do, and how every school is unique. Afterward, we focused on office hours and how there was a surprising variety of handling them, including what information students see in the office hour queuing app while they wait in the queue, what information peer teachers see, and the rules the peer teachers use to decide who is pulled off the queue next.

AIICE stands for Alliance for Identity Inclusive Computing Education. It is an organization dedicated to "empowering the next generation of computer scientists by eliminating systemic barriers." This episode is with Dr. Shaundra (Shani) B. Daily, Ph.D., the backbone director of the organization. We discuss how she and her Co-PI, Dr. Nicki Washington, Ph.D., and past podcast guest, wrote the grant that started it all, how we should stop trying to "fix" students, that we should instead focus on fixing the systems that "requires" "fixing" students, and about their 3C program, a professional development program that is part of trying to make systemic change.

In this episode, we talk with Amogh Mannekote, a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida. He and others analyzed class forum data from three very different classes and discovered that a lot of factors influence how students use the class forum, including the kind of class assignments, the accessibility of other sources of help, and how the instructor or TAs answer questions on the class forum. After doing this work, he also strongly believes that instructors should download and analyze their data or we should create more "out of the box" open source tools that do this for instructors. In addition, students need to be encouraged to use the class forum effectively and TAs need explicit instructions on how to interact with students on the class forum.

Here's episode two of our two-part series on teaching associates! A teaching associate is a teaching support staff position here at Duke University. This episode is a conversation with Yesenia Velasco. We talk about how her role is different than Kate O'Hanlon from our last episode, reflect on how Duke did at its first attempt at such a position, and look towards the future of where such a position can go.

Teaching Associate, what's that? In this two-part series's first episode, we talk with Kate O'Hanlon, a teaching associate in the computer science department at Duke University. Teaching associates are department staff positions that support the large enrollment classes. We discuss the four primary teaching associate responsibilities: project manager, student outreach, developer, and instructor. In addition, we discuss the underlying goal when Duke created the position and the needed flexibility within the role. This episode is part of a two-part series. The second episode will be with another teaching associate, Yesenia Velasco, to reflect on Duke's first attempt at such a position and some future thinking about where the position can go.

Today's episode is with Richard Ladner from AccessComputing and AccessCSforAll, Professor Emeritus from the University of Washington. Our discussion focuses on accessibility. How do we improve accessibility in our teaching? What do AccessComputing and AccessCSforAll do? And how do we be considerate of our students that are hard of hearing, blind, or have some other accessibility need? Edited by Michael Ball

In this episode, we talk with Michael Ball from the University of California, Berkeley. Our focus is on undergraduate teaching assistants (TAs), which Berkeley has a long history of. Michael goes into detail about what Berkeley TAs do, the TA hierarchy, and TA training. We learn about a small core group of students that make an undergraduate career out of being TA. Another question we focus on is advice to an institution that is just starting its TA program. Finally, throughout our talk, we discuss how things are different from before the pandemic and now.

In part two of our episode series with Kevin Lin and Brett Wortzman from the University of Washington, we dig into the details of how they implement their alternative grading systems. Brett outlines their ESNU system that stands for exemplary, satisfactory, not yet and unaccessible, as well as the components of his grading system for his large CS1 course, and Kevin talks about his version from his CS2 and other data structures courses. We discuss trading off complexity for precision and how much differentiation in grades is actually feasible and necessary. We also talk about grading workload and balancing the convenience of autograding with the depth of feedback from manual grading. Kevin emphasizes how grading “bundles” can provide more clarity for students on what the expectations are for each grade. Finally, both Kevin and Brett emphasize considering constraints, priorities, and tradeoffs in choosing a grading system for your own class. If you haven't yet, consider listening to the first episode of the series on why to consider alternative grading and the potential systems to choose from! Edited by Brett Wortzman

In a two-part episode series, we talk with Kevin Lin and Brett Wortzman from the University of Washington about alternative grading practices. In this episode, we focus on the purposes and goals of grading and discuss different types of grading systems. We dig into the philosophy of Kevin and Brett’s grading approach, how it can work in very large courses, and how to get buy-in from students on an unfamiliar system. Kevin mentions the importance of focusing on equity and defining what exactly that means, and Brett emphasizes that grading should align with the course’s learning outcomes. We close by thinking about what we can hope to gain by implementing a new grading system and who our choices impact. Be sure to listen to part two as well! Edited by Brett Wortzman

Hello, everyone! We are going to have a season 3! But we are going to try something new. Rather than six episodes released every few weeks, we are going on an irregular schedule. We’re picking a theme and running with it until we run out. This season’s theme is “What’s next?” where we focus on how we've rethought our teaching since covid-19. We’ve got a few episodes lined up and the goal is to release an episode on average every other month. So make sure to subscribe, so you don't miss an episode!

For this season's last episode, we talk with Jacqueline Smith, an Assistant Professor of the teaching stream in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. We talk about U of T's large flipped CS1. We started with the class's specifics, how it's flipped, and their "prepare, rehearse, and perform" cycle. Then we discussed their decision to have a synchronous part of the class despite remote teaching. We spent the rest of the episode on her thoughts on how best to flip a class, which included reconsidering if video is the right medium, flipping doesn't need to happen all at once, and colleague buy-in from all others that could teach the course is important. https://sites.duke.edu/csedpodcast/2021/03/15/season-2-episode-6-large-flipped-cs1/

In this episode, we talk to Leigh Ann DeLyser, co-founder and executive director of CSforAll. Our topic is the need to reform systems for sustainable equity. We discuss what it means and what CSforAll does. We also discussed the specific difficulties our host, Kristin Stephens-Martinez, has with her CS1 class and how it's actually a systems problem. https://sites.duke.edu/csedpodcast/2021/03/01/season-2-episode-5-systemic-change/

Joining us today is Joe Feldman, author of Grading for Equity and the CEO of Crescendo Education Group. We discuss the historical overview of grading and why now is a good time to rethink our grading process to make it more equitable. We got concrete by discussing our host's, Kristin Stephens-Martinez's, syllabus for her class and changes she was considering after reading Grading for Equity. One significant point Joe made is that grades should only convey the student's level of mastery, not their behavior. Finally, we closed the episode with him pointing out we should do small experiments, iterate, and over time transition our classes to be more equitable, as well as discussed ways to normalize the new practices in the classroom. If you are interested in learning more, there is not only the book but also an online class. https://sites.duke.edu/csedpodcast/2021/02/15/season-2-episode-4-grading-for-equity/

In this episode, we talk with Nicki Washington, a full Professor of the Practice at Duke University, about cultural competence. We discuss the definition of cultural competence. Its history, why we should care, and what it means in the context of computer science. We also talked about Nicki's new class on this topic and her 3C Fellows program. Finally, we close with a call to action. Many people and organizations have started learning, reading, and making commitments. What needs to happen next is to start executing plans and iterating on them quickly (agile method style). We need to hold people accountable because reading and planning aren't enough. Our discussion did not close with a too long; didn't listen segment, except simply "get uncomfortable and listen to the whole episode." Nicki mentioned many resources during our discussion. We have done our best to link to them in the transcript. https://sites.duke.edu/csedpodcast/2021/02/01/season-2-episode-3-cultural-competence-in-computer-science/

Our guest today is Jared O'Leary, the Director of Education and Research at BootUp PD. Jared creates computer science curriculum and professional development and is also the creator of the CSK8 podcast. Our topic was what K–12 and higher education computer science education can learn from each other. We discussed Jared's philosophy and curriculum design process, as well as why K–12 and higher education do not communicate as much as would be ideal. In Jared's too long; didn't listen summary, Jared discussed the importance of reading and learning from outside of the field and how we need to figure out better ways to communicate and learn from each other. Transcript and links to resources: https://sites.duke.edu/csedpodcast/2021/01/18/season-2-episode-2-what-k12-and-higher-ed-cs-can-learn-from-each-other/

In this episode, we talk with Manuel Pérez-Quiñones, a Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Our topic is supporting students of color. We discussed why this support matters and the differences between professors versus students and equality versus equity. We also discussed how he changed his grading practices for his remote class. He even shared about changing his syllabus to specification grading, which he reflects on in his blog now that the semester is over (see the website post for the link). For his too long; didn't listen summary, Manuel talked about how we need to acknowledge the history that got us here and what is happening right now and then consider the repercussions that appear in our classroom. Transcript and links to resources: https://sites.duke.edu/csedpodcast/2021/01/04/season-2-episode-1-supporting-students-of-color/

We are launching season 2 of The CS-Ed Podcast on January 4th, 2021! The year 2020 has caused so much disruption and calls for change, which led us to make this season's theme "Where should we go from here?" Join us for this season as our host, Kristin Stephens-Martinez, discusses with her guests about pedagogy and inequality in hopes it will give us all an opportunity to reflect rather than react to our present situation. This season has 6 episodes. The first will come out on January 4th and we'll release subsequent episodes every other Monday: 1/4 - Manuel Pérez-Quiñones from University North Carolina at Charlotte on how to support students of color 1/18 - Jared O'Leary from BootUp PD on what can K12 and higher education computer science learn from each other 2/1 - Nicki Washington from Duke University on cultural competency 2/15 - Joe Feldman joins me to talk about his book Grading for equity 3/1 - Leigh Ann DeLyser from CSforAll on systemic change 3/15 - Jacqueline Smith from University of Toronto shares how to teach a large flipped class

In this episode, we talk with Colleen Lewis, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Harvey Mudd College. She specializes in computer science education and diversity issues, as well as is the creator of http://csteachingtips.org/, which we at the CS-Ed Podcast post about often. This conversation was a question and answer with Colleen. Our topics included: peer instruction, how she structures her lecture and class, how becoming a better and better teacher is a marathon, cheating on assignments, the pros and cons of splitting students based on prior experience, and where to hold office hours. Colleen’s “something awesome in computer science” was another podcast, Modern Figures Podcast. It highlights the work of black women in computing. The audience is geared towards teenage girls interested in computer science. Colleen’s Too Long; Didn’t Listen (TL; DL) was two tips. First, was survey your students and respond to that feedback. The second focused on how your teaching practices should allow for opportunities to see into student thinking and that's really what active learning is meant to be.

In this episode, we talk with Armando Fox, Professor of Computer Science and Faculty Advisor to the MOOCLab at UC Berkeley. With David Patterson, he co-designed and co-taught Berkeley’s first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on “Engineering Software as a Service,” offered through edx.org. It is now a professional certificate in “Agile Development Using Ruby on Rails.” Our conversation touched many topics involving MOOCs. We discussed the history of MOOCs, how he got into it, creating Small Private Online Courses (SPOCs), how MOOCs call into question established teaching habits, some experiments he’s planning that break those habits, and how to get student buy-in when using a MOOC in the classroom. When asked about something awesome in computer science, Armando talked about his love for the history of computing. One thing he observed is how much ideas get recycled in computer science. He even has a web page called “Master geek theater” of his recommended documentaries ranging from five minutes to three hours. Armando’s Too Long; Didn’t Listen (TL; DL) focused on MOOCs’ long-term legacy. He does not think they will replace instructors. Instead, they will enable instructors to use their time more creatively because they have well-curated, interactive, battle-tested exercises available to them. Moreover, they will help us think about how to get the non-deep content experts involved in helping the students or their peers in learning the material.

In this episode, we talk with Mark Guzdial, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, with a courtesy appointment in the School of Information at the University of Michigan. Our conversation focused on live coding, which is programming in front of the class as the students would program. Mark emphasized that the most essential part of live coding is modeling process. The second part is modeling how to manage mistakes. And the third is to create opportunities for students to make predictions. For his “something awesome in computer science,” Mark talked about how he loved that computer science can be anything else. That computer science can look like and behave like any other discipline. Mark’s Too Long; Didn’t Listen (TL; DL) broadened our original conversation by pointing out that, while live coding is useful, it’s one method among many and not necessarily the most important one. Other teaching methods he thought were also important included peer instruction, contextualized computing education, and generally, to start with a problem.