COSC 122 Computer Fluency

Fall (Winter Term 1) 2013 - University of British Columbia Okanagan

Overview

The eighth offering of COSC 122 was one of the best ever. The course content is very exciting to students with a variety of backgrounds and gives the opportunity to be creative and understand how everyday technology works. New content was added on JavaScript to allow practice programming with online tools such as Codecademy.

This course goes beyond Microsoft Office and teaches about computer hardware, some programming, and other topics in a broader introduction to Computer Science. Students did some basic programming in HTML and JavaScript. Many students really liked the HTML. The JavaScript was a little harder as it is exposes some of the difficult issues with programming.

On-line Resources

• Syllabus

Student Performance

Of the 110 registered students who started the course, 99 (90%) received a D or higher and 97 (88%) received a C- or higher. The average GPA was 3.06 or a B. Charts showing the mark breakdown are below. This was the best offering ever for overall student performance including numerous A+ students!

Comments

The instructor rating was 4.90 (highest ever). The course rating was 4.70 (highest ever). The course remains moderately challenging (3.50) and more students noted that it was important (4.2). Students learn to appreciate programming as "creative problem solving", although it may be challenging at first.

The labs were very good with excellent TAs. Some labs are easy (Lab 1, Word, PowerPoint) and other labs (programming labs 6-8) are considerably harder and the TAs cannot keep up with the questions.

The course will always be challenging to teach as it is considered an "easy science credit". However, there is no reason that it cannot be inspirational, fun, and allow students to learn a lot about technology that will be extremely valuable to them. The goal for this course is to grow it considerably so more students have the opportunity to truly understand the technology they use everyday.

Strengths of the Course

• "Interesting material, engaging prof, relevance to future studies/work is clear whether or not students are continuing in comp sci. Opportunities to show excellence and for high achievement. Very enjoyable class atmosphere."
  


• "The custom course content is so engaging and written out well. It's easy to follow and I love the objectives at the end of each chapter to study. Dr. Lawrence is always answering questions in class and gives great encouragement and help when stuck on a coding problem. I thought I'd be scared of JavaScript, but it's not as hard as I thought it would be with the right explanation."
  


• "Lawrence made everything clear and extremely fostered my interest in this course. I took computer sciences to get an easy science credit, but now I am considering it as a life option. Lawrence is the best teach I have ever had."
  


• "Amazing, clear professor who clearly understands his field of research and readily demonstrates his knowledge of the computer science industry. Even given his expertise, he still has the impressive talent to break things down and explain complicated concepts in a way entry level students will be able to grasp and understand. Professor Lawrence flexibly adapts his course material to his audience, and focuses class resources on the topics he knows the class is having trouble with. This is reflected in the excellent class average of this semester. As a result, this course feels alive, engaging, and excellently structured. Even someone with several years knowledge in the field can learn something from this course. Additionally, Professor Lawrence uses technology in a seamless manner, utilizing the iClicker better than any other course I have seen. The results of the iClicker directly feed back into the course itself, providing instant feedback and results. The use of a PowerPoint remote allows Professor Lawrence to remain active and expressive with his movements, keeping the class engaged and focused on topic, free from the distractions of clumsy fumbling with the keyboard. Bravo."
  


• "Prof. Lawrence made this class fun. It made me want to major in COSC. I liked that we got to learn the basics of two programming languages and therefore how to make our own websites/programs. I also liked that the material was presented in a non-intimidating way so that students could feel at ease when learning and retain information."
  


• "Though it was challenging, I am a philosophy student with no comp sci experience, the course was presented in a way that make it possible for me to excel. If you go to class and work on the labs you will understand the material. Ramon is gifted at taking tough concepts and putting them into language I can understand."
  


• "The professor is amazing. He organizes his lectures fantastically. He has great notes and a great teaching style. It is easy to follow and he teaches the material very well. I really believe that professor Lawrence does a superb job at managing the course grading. I love the fact that it is not all based on exams unlike other courses. Having a mixture of assignments, labs and tests are definitely a great way for testing because not every single student can do well on tests. Some do better on assignments."
  


• "This was by far the best class I have taken in my undergraduate career. The teacher was so effective in teaching and engendering class participation. The structure was exactly what first year students need, and in fact helped upper level students succeed as well. I can't say enough great things about this prof, and am so fortunate that I had the chance to take one of his courses."
  

Weakness of the Course

• "The level of difficulty varied from simple to very difficult to simple. It could have been more balanced."
  


• "Not many weaknesses. In the labs, I found it was hard to do them if there wasn't someone there helping you through as the instructions didn't always tell you everything you needed to know. I found this to be the highest difficulty of the course. But the TA's were very helpful when they were available."
  


• "I would've liked more time programming and less time with easier labs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint."
  

Most Enjoyable Part of the Course

• "I liked that Ramon made us feel welcome and I felt like that if I needed extra help I would be comfortable with actually going and talking to him (I never did, but most other profs if I have questions I am too afraid to ask- Ramon isn't scary). He always rewarded students with candy, and I felt like I actually learned from the lectures and it was easy for me to stay focused. He is a very good prof. I wish I had more profs like him."
  


• "Ramon made us think in a different way and learn how to problem solve."
  


• "Literally my most favorite course this semester, I wish I could take it again and have him as my professor for other COSC courses. I actually enjoy clicker questions, being bribed with candy is a very good way to get students to actually try."
  


• "CANDY!!! And just how happy and helpful Lawrence is. I really admire him as a person because he truly treats every single student with an abundance of respect and makes us all feel special as though he wants us all to succeed."
  


• "I loved getting to make my own websites! It was actually the bonus labs that I have the most fun with."
  


• "I enjoyed just being a part of the class, The class just never knew what to expect whether it be a fun clicker question to see what the majority of the class thinks about a certain topic, or the top 10 lab assignments. Simply an amazing course and I wish that every student starting university would have an incentive of taking this course because it will truly show them the perfect learning experience in university even if the course isn't a requirement."