Western Canadian Conference on Computing Education (WCCCE 2018)

Join us May 4 & 5, 2018 at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

 

Programme

The final schedule is available as a PDF.

 

Keynote talk

• Scholarly Evaluation of Teaching Interventions in Computer Science — Michelle Craig, University of Toronto
  • Abstract: As course instructors, we work hard to structure our students' experiences to help them learn as much as possible within the associated resource constraints. We explore new pedagogical strategies, hoping that they will help more students achieve their learning goals. At the University of Toronto, we have tried many interventions including exam wrappers, inverted-classrooms, blended online courses, contextualizing assignments and asking students to write in English about code. I will outline our implementations of a few different interventions and then discuss the research studies we conducted to evaluate the effectiveness in a principled way. Finally, I will talk about some of the challenges of developing a research program in Computer Science Education and the critical importance of establishing a community.

 

Papers

• “Hour of code” with Virtual Reality — Jason Madar (Langara College)
• A Simple PHP MVC Framework for Web Development Courses — Arnold Rosenbloom (University of Toronto)
• An Experience Report on Practical Examinations — Jamie McKee-Scott, Gladys Monagan (Langara College)
• An Experience Using On-Computer Programming Questions During Exams — Ben Stephenson (University of Calgary)
• Anatomy of a New Data Science Course in Privacy, Ethics, and Security — Ed Knorr, Giulio Dalla Riva (University of British Columbia, Vancouver), Orlin Vakarelov (Duke University)
• CS for Non-CS Science Students: Course Design Under Constraints — Caitlin Ryan (University of Calgary), Charles Hepler, Jordan Kidney (Mount Royal University)
• Designing an Introductory Programming Course to Improve Non-Majors' Experiences — Jessica Dawson, Meghan Allen, Alice Campbell, Anasazi Valair (University of British Columbia, Vancouver) [from SIGCSE 2018]
• Drop-In Help Centres: An Alternative to Office Hours — Jennifer Campbell, Michelle Craig (University of Toronto)
• Engaging Secondary and Post-Secondary Students to Learn and Explore Programming Using a Theme-Based Curriculum and the Sphero SPRK+ Robot — Steven Hadfield, Justin Raynor, Matthew Sievers (US Air Force Academy, Denver, Colorado)
• ER: On Faculty Supervision in Industry Projects — Michal Aibin, Aaron Hunter (British Columbia Institute of Technology)
• Exam Wrappers: Not a Silver Bullet — Ben Stephenson (University of Calgary), Michelle Craig, Daniel Zingaro, Danny Heap, Elaine Huynh (University of Toronto) [from SIGCSE 2017]
• Experiential Learning through Inter-University Collaboration Research Project in Academic Integrity — Herbert H. Tsang (Trinity Western University), Alice Schmidt Hanbidge, Tony Tin (University of Waterloo)
• Insights from the Application of Universal Design Principles to Support English Language Learners — Meghan Allen, Celina Berg, Jessica Dawson, Aubrey Neil (University of British Columbia, Vancouver)
• Lightweight Strategies for Inclusive Teaching — Jacqueline Smith (University of Toronto)
• Student Behaviour in Unsupervised Online Quizzes: A Closer Look — Arash Gholami, Larry Yueli Zhang (University of Toronto)
• Teaching Computer Architecture Labs using a MCU Platform — Alex Aravind (University of Northern British Columbia)
• Visualizing Code Patterns in Novice Programmers — Jeff Bulmer, Angie Pinchback, Bowen Hui (University of British Columbia, Okanagan)

 

Workshops

• Experience Hands‐On K‐12 and First‐Year University Coding Curricula Based on the Sphero SPRK+ Robot — Steven Hadfield, Justin Raynor, Matthew Sievers (US Air Force Academy, Denver, Colorado)
• Playing to Your Strengths: Appreciative Inquiry as a Scholarly Tool for Your Computing Education Practice and Professional Development — Meghan Allen, Steven A. Wolfman (University of British Columbia, Vancouver)

 

Closing talk

• SIGCSE Filk Circle: CS Parody Songs for Learning, Engagement, and Fun — Steve A. Wolfman, UBC Vancouver [from SIGCSE 2018]
  • Abstract: We celebrate the long tradition of computing parody songs (“filks”) and their potential to contribute to education and a fun environment in CS courses with live music and collaborative parody. We perform several new and classic filks, such as “Like it Called on Me (QuickSort)”, interspersing discussion of how and why these parodies were written. We also propose a song for the audience to parody and walk them through a structured small-group activity to help them brainstorm topics and lyrical phrases and fit them to the existing lyrics and music. Attendees should expect to laugh (and possibly cry) with the singing and also leave inspired to create and incorporate filks in their own computing education practice.