Articulation Practice

One of the goals of this class is for you to be able to communicate precisely about the algorithm design process. This includes being able to formulate questions, rephrase and discuss material as well as help others understand any and all steps of the process. These activities help you take ownership of your learning and mastery of the material:

• Weekly learning reflections (individual)

• Topic module reflections (individual x 2)

• (Optionally) lead a lesson for your peers

Please fill this out to reflect on your learning each week (submit by end of day Friday). This will help both you and me support your learning in the course.

You are responsible for two 3-5 minute topic module reflections for your peers. This should be done as a video recording, posted to the Ed Discussion forum.

• Respect your peers and do not share with others not in the course. Sharing beyond the course is considered a violation of the Honor Code.

Use your time in a way that you feel will support your peers learning, which could be by:

• summarizing a concept, problem or definition

• walking through a simple example

• contextualizing material from the class in terms of a larger picture (e.g., the class as a whole, how it connects to your computer science journey or computer science in general or beyond)

• formulating a precise question to clarify material

• prompting the class to answer a simple question or pose specific questions

You will be graded on

• clarity of communication

• impact on your peers' learning

You will often be working in groups of 3-4 to help support your learning. Be strategic about how you work together and how you approach the material. Here is some structure to guide your interactions:

• Use active listening (listen to understand) when trying to figure out where you or others are going wrong in a problem.

• Reflect back and synthesize: mirror what you heard to clarify your own understanding (and maybe theirs!).

• Step up, step back: be aware of when to take up space, and when to make room for more voices.

You may choose to prepare and lead your peers through a topic module and adjust your grading criteria (Grading Option B on the Syllabus).

The topic module may take the form of:

• an activity to reinforce earlier material (such as solving recurrence relations or asymptotic analysis)

• a presentation of a more advanced algorithm -- specific suggestions listed on the form below

• leading a problem-solving session for a simpler problem that uses a design approach from class (e.g., drawn from sample interview questions)

Modules will take place during the last class meetings. 

• Each topic will have 10-20 minutes, or

• Depending on scheduling, we may need to shift some topics to be self-paced online (e.g., Ed Stem module, interactive web site, etc.)

Some suggested agendas that have worked in the past:

• 3-5 minute overview/intro, 5-10 minutes of problem solving/practicing the approach in groups/at the board, 3-5 minutes to debrief

• 5-10 minute presentation, followed by a 5 minute interactive quiz using something like kahoot, mentimeter, poll everywhere

• 15 minutes of presentation with quiz questions embedded throughout (using mentimeter or poll everywhere)

I’m also happy to brainstorm about the topic and how you might use class time best!

-Audrey 

You can work individually or groups of up to three. 

Requirements

Your module must:

• include a presentation of technical material

• contain an interactive component to engage your classmates

• have a follow-up multiple choice question for students to answer on the final exam, based on your lesson plan [you will need to submit this to me by sharing a google doc before 4/23]

You will be assessed on:

• the correctness and clarity of your materials

• the impact on student learning

• design of the exam question

By Fri 3/15:

By Mon 4/16: module materials

• Share a google drive folder or a google doc with:

  • Material you’ll be using (slide deck, etc.) so I can post it to the web site.

  • Check that permissions for anything you'd like your peers to access are set to Mount Holyoke College or Anyone with the link.

• Share a google doc with a multiple choice question + the solution to be included on the Final Exam.

  • Permissions should only be shared with me :)