Agenda:
- Greeting and introduction
- Goals and assessment criteria
- What didn’t work in Round 1
- First exercise (aim for Friday Feb 1, to discuss the week of Feb 4-8)
(ARB: Sorry, these notes are incomplete — I didn’t start taking notes until we were a few minutes in. If I missed something (or misreported something) please add it to the comments.)
What We’re Learning:
- Basic learning psychology
- Pedagogical content knowledge
- the bridge between general theories of learning and the actual content you’re trying to teach
- How to translate the above to what we do: teaching computing techniques to scientists
In previous sessions feedback has suggested that there isn’t enough online collaboration, so please make an effort to comment on blog posts and get to know each other.
(Greg talked a lot about what we need to teach our audience; that is, the framework and concepts of software carpentry, not the details of how it’s implemented. I didn’t take notes so I may be mangling this — please correct or expand in comments.)
Assignment: Pick one topic [from the Unix unit?], draw the concept map, come up with one or two multiple choice questions that will tell you if somebody actually understands the idea. [3-4 hours] (Greg will email the assignment and reading.)
If you have access, MindView is pretty good for concept mapping. But generally keep it as simple as you’re comfortable with — a picture of a hand-drawn map is fine.
Who To Offer SWC To and When
Software Carpentry typically works with grad students — they have the time and the need. Undergrads are busy with courseload and they are not working on their own projects and thus don’t have/perceive the need. Karthik notes that it’s easier to teach/learn Software Carpentry when people have settled into their projects enough to realize that they need it. If you try and offer it to them too soon, it doesn’t stick.
Undergrads who are working on summer research programs are a good audience. REU — Research Experience for Undergraduates (usually in the summer in the US) — good for bonding experience too.
January is a better time than September to offer bootcamps because in September, everyone is overwhelmed with other things. By January they have realized they need something like Software Carpentry.
Reading week is not a good time for Boot Camps.
On The Matter Of Attitude Toward Newbies in Technology
Question (from Geoff?): A lot of people have the attitude that you have to earn your stripes in this area — how can we counter this attitude and be more welcoming to newcomers?
Greg: Software Carpentry’s focus is on teaching people the basic skills they need regardless of what is considered shiny and cool. How do we change the culture? We’re working on it…
[drj: I have been most surprised by the stories about “macho geek” culture in the book “Unlocking the Clubhouse”. well worth reading (Greg recommended it)]
Geoff: There is also an attitude that this stuff is simple enough that you shouldn’t have to “teach” it.
Greg: Yes, but it just doesn’t happen — that’s idealistic.
Something to think about: choosing technology for social reasons, i.e., because that’s what everyone else is using. (“Git is the price you have to pay for using Github”) This is relevant to the choices we make about what we teach.
Sidebar About Structure of Undergrad Courses
American University Year Names: Freshman (age 18/19), Sophomore, Junior, Senior
Most students graduate in 4 years (full-time) with a Bachelor’s. Some students can graduate in fewer years with credits from high school Advanced Placement courses. Note: there is a difference between an “honors program” and receiving a distinction of “honors” at the end of a Bachelors. “Honors program” refers to being accepted to a Uni. program of a higher level, whereas the “honors” distinction is received after successful completion of an “honors project/research” usually in the final year. (ARB: I’m not sure who wrote this but I think it applies to US universities. When I was in university (15 years ago) the distinction was that a “regular” degree was 3-years, usually with slightly easier classes, and an honours degree was four-years and you’d take honours classes. That might just have been the case at Waterloo. Not that this is particularly relevant to Software Carpentry!)
How do these relate to student ages?
OK, in Scotland we can have a large cohort at age 17 in 1st year. Scotland is different to England/Wales as typically the cohort is about 6 months younger.