Implementing Collaborative Learning in Computer Science Classes
Return to Mohammad Hamza
Welcome to my mini-course! Please use this introductory page to explore the course and gain a brief understanding of what you can expect from participating in my course.
Overview and Purpose
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Needs Assessment
High school computer science classes might not be doing an adequate job in preparing computer science students for future careers in the field due to a lack of effective collaborative activities in these classes. As I have experienced in my own classroom, in the computer science classrooms of my peers as well as observations within other district schools, students are not gaining meaningful collaboration skills from their computer science classes. This creates a problem with these students being underprepared for careers (or further education in the field) relating to computer science where working with others is a key aspect of the job. These underprepared students will struggle to succeed in environments where they are expected to work in teams and produce results.
Performance Objectives
As a result of their participation in the course, participants will be able to:
1) Differentiate between effective and ineffective collaborative activities and strategies for beneficial outcomes in computer science classes.
2) Apply the knowledge gained from this mini-course to design and integrate collaborative activities and strategies in their own computer science classes.
3) Reflect on how their chosen or designed activities or strategies worked and if they can be improved to yield better results.
4) Understand that collaboration in computer science classes is necessary and requires strategic implementation to be most effective both short term and long term.
Course Units
This mini-course includes the following units. Click the title of a unit to go to its page.
[Module 1: What Does Effective Collaboration Look Like?]] Analyze learning activities and/or experiences in computer science classes and determine whether or not they represent effective collaboration
- Evaluate various activities in computer science (or similar content area classes)
- Describe what effective collaboration looks like
- Distinguish between good/bad collaboration
Module 2: Development of Lessons Which Include Collaboration Develop lesson plans and/or ideas for collaboration activities/strategies in their computer science classes
- Research and choose collaborative activities and strategies for use
- Utilize and modify a lesson plan template to include collaboration in a computer science class
Module 3: Implementation of Collaborative Activities Implement effective collaboration activities and strategies in their computer science classes
- Decide when and how to actually use collaborative activities/strategies in their computer science class
Module 4: Reflecting on Our Implementation of Collaboration Reflect on how their chosen or designed activities or strategies worked and if they can be improved to yield better results
- After having used collaborative activities and/or strategies, complete a journaling activity(s) for reflection and self-evaluation
- Create goals for improvement
Extended Resources
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