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The Geek Gene: A source of unconscious bias?
The Geek Gene: A source of unconscious bias?
The geek gene is a common myth in the computer science community, when it comes to programming - you either have it, or you don't. A 2007 study [4] found that 77% of faculty rejected the following statement "Nearly everyone is capable of succeeding in the computer science curriculum if they work at it". There is general agreement in the computer science education literature that, while a geek gene cannot be ruled out, a much more likely explanation for an apparent discrepancy in student success is in experience and learning [1-3]. The potential for the belief in the geek gene to negatively impact student learning is plain to see, teachers may develop a bias and focus more on students that they believe will succeed, to the detriment of those who may already be struggling [1].
I would be lying if I said I was not part of the 77%, at least with a belief that some students show a natural affinity for programming and some do not - whether the result of genetics or experience (or both). I am however aware that this belief might, unconsciously, negatively impact my teaching and disadvantage some students. Unconscious teacher bias is difficult and ubiquitous issue that manifests in many forms, but the crucial first steps are always to recognise and identify the bias [5]. This short post has formed part of my first steps in identifying one of my unconscious biases, one that I will be continuously reflecting upon and one that I hope others will also identify and reflect upon.
REFERENCES
[1] Alvidrez, J., & Weinstein, R. S. (1999). Early teacher perceptions and later student academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(4), 731–746.
[2] Brown NCC, Wilson G (2018) Ten quick tips for teaching programming. PLOS Computational Biology 14(4): e1006023.
[3] Mark Guzdial (2015) Top 10 Myths About Teaching Computer Science. CAMC Blog Post
[4] Clayton Lewis (2017) Attitudes and beliefs about computer science among students and faculty. SIGCSE Bull. 39, 2 (June 2007), 37–41.
[5] 7 Steps to: Mitigating Unconscious Bias in Teaching and Learning Muneer, R., Cotton, D. and Winter, J. (2015), Plymouth University
Author: Benedict Wilkins
Response:
I do agree that people can be naturally “talented” in scientific disciplines. While the teacher should encourage the students to improve, by providing constructive feedbacks and being supportive, they also should find the students’ strengths and make them aware of those. In this way, the teacher can help to find a more suitable path that maybe a student hadn’t considered before. (Federica Restelli, Earth Sciences)
Response:
Perhaps the two skillsets most frequently subjected to the discourse of 'natural talent' are numerical and musical. As a musician and a computer programmer who grew up with my left hand on a Casio keyboard and the right hand on a Sinclair ZX Spectrum I know how important early exposure can be in both disciplines. Perfect pitch (or 'absolute pitch') is a case in point: popularly perceived as an indication of innate talent, studies have demonstrated it merely amounts to early exposure and any child can be taught 'perfect pitch' if started young enough. Rather than any kind of genetic predisposition I think the issue may be a metacognitive one; whereas those whose 'native tongue' includes computer programming or music may never need to consider 'how' they know something and scaffold their method, those who come to these skills later in life may need to strategize more carefully. Coincidentally, tackling unconscious bias is also to some degree a metacognitive problem. As teachers of skills we are perhaps too focused on the 'what' (content) rather than the 'how' (strategy and approach). A renewed focus on cognitive diversity through instructor empathy may be the beginnings of a solution...
(Simeon A. Smith, Music)
Hi Nausheen, thanks very much for sharing these effective learning techniques. The use of animation and simulation - although something I am not particularly familiar with - strikes me as a really exciting and innovative approach to teaching. Your text speaks really convincingly to the benefits of using different forms of media as resources for students' learning. (Calum Hazell, Media Arts)
Learning is Child's Play: Making learning and teaching fun again using games, animations and simulations (by Nausheen Saba Shahid)
Learning is Child's Play: Making learning and teaching fun again using games, animations and simulations (by Nausheen Saba Shahid)
Famous inventor Thomas Edison said in an interview[1] that
“Books will soon be obsolete in the public schools. Scholars will be instructed through the eye. It will be possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture. ”
Animations, simulations, educational games, and visual depictions are today's forms of “through the eye” teaching mechanisms that help students understand complex dynamic processes[2]. Bonwell and Eison[3] made a list of a variety of teaching methods that promote active learning and their list included games as a strong candidate among other techniques. Today, games are a good means to achieve student engagement which is the key success factor of the learning process[4]. Sitmann[5] reviewed 60 papers on the use of games in teaching computer education and he concluded that games(combined with a “debriefing”) can be more effective than lectures, reading, videos, and assignments.
My supervisor teaches a course "Intelligent Agents and Multi-agents concepts" and for a better understanding of this course, he needed a video game based on concepts taught in this course. I was part of the developers' team who built that game for him and I also assisted him in labs of this course. First, through visualization of concepts students got a better understanding of difficult concepts. Also, they really enjoyed doing tasks in the labs and were enthusiastic about attempting coursework as it was like playing a game. They came up with many original solutions to problems presented to them. It also developed the competition among the class. Out of curiosity and intrinsic motivation, some of them even read research articles to find solutions to the problems faced in coursework. It proved to be a successful teaching experience.
Another effective technique in this category is computer animations/simulation[6]. I once utilized animation to teach a sorting algorithm and through visual changes, students were presented with the whole procedure which they learnt quickly. Same is the case with simulations. In my opinion, through these visual and engaging ways, one can teach a complex concept more effectively in less time span.
REFERENCES
[1] M. Sharples, Practical pedagogy: 40 new ways to teach and learn. Routledge, 2019.
[2] L. Doherty and V. Kumar, “Teaching programming through games,” in 2009 International Workshop on Technology for Education, pp. 111–113, IEEE, 2009.
[3] C. C. Bonwell and J. A. Eison, Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom. 1991 ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Reports. ERIC, 1991.
[4] E. F. Barkley and C. H. Major, Student engagement techniques: A handbook for college faculty. John Wiley & Sons, 2020.
[5] T. Sitzmann, “A meta-analytic examination of the instructional effectiveness of computer-based simulation games,” Personnel psychology, vol. 64, no. 2, pp. 489–528, 2011.
[6] M. K. T. M. Abdalla, “Three dimensional virtual laboratories and simulations for education: Classification, criteria for efficacy, benefits, and criticism,” in Handbook of Research on Immersive Digital Games in Educational Environments, pp. 167–200, IGI Global, 2019.
Active Learning in 10 minutes or less (Pallavi Bagga)
Time is always a barrier when it comes to implementing student-centred activities in the classroom because of the large amount of content to cover. However, according to Felder (2016) [1], the student’s concentration decreases in the classroom if the instructor makes him sit passively for more than fifteen minutes. Honeycutt (2016) has designed a model called FLIP (Focus on your Learners by Involving them in the Process) for creating active learning in the classroom in ten minutes or less [2], which I feel is worth sharing for the instructors to avoid losing their half of the students during the lecture, without running out of time.
In her article [2], Honeycutt has mentioned three strategies to break the flow while letting the students do something themselves related to the course content. First, to ask the students to complete an information by presenting them a list, a diagram, or a series of steps. It can also be considered as providing them a list of steps to order in a certain way (for example, listing different sorting algorithms based on their complexities). Second, to let the students notice and discuss how one concept is related to another which they have already studied (for example, analogy of artificial neural network to human brain). Third, a brainstorming challenge to generate a list of possible issues or solutions equal to the sum of the numbers they get by rolling the two 6-sided dice (for example, to come up with pros and cons of Internet of Things (IoT)).
As per my opinion, the above-mentioned strategies are a great way to keep the students actively engaged in the classroom. Moreover, these strategies help students in getting even more time to absorb the information about the topic which has been recently studied before the instructor heads towards a new topic. Also, it aids the instructor to receive quick feedback in the class itself by seeing whether the students have followed or not.
References:
[1] Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2016). Teaching and learning STEM: A practical guide. John Wiley & Sons.
[2] Honeycutt, B. (2016). 3 Flipped Strategies You Can Do in 10 Minutes or Less. Faculty Focus.
Response:
I completely agree with this. Having experimented with breaking my sessions down into smaller modules, I have similarly found that 15 minute sections work best. I’ve used a pub quiz game to get the students working together, but I love the idea of using a dice! (Maeve O'Connell, Media Arts)
I didn’t realise in only ten minutes students' concentration decreased if learning passively. Breaking seminars down into small chunks would work well for my discipline as most topics studied can be sub-divided into different factors. I love the idea of using dice to decide how many points a group has to make. (Hannah Strathern, History)
Response:
I think this was a great short blog post. I comepltely agree that smaller sessions work best for students and its just enough to keep their attention and keep them focused and engaged. I love the idea of the brainstorm challenge and it is something I will definitely try in one of my classes in the future. (Farah Akthar, Psychology).
Response:
I agree that conducting a smaller interactive study session coupled with brainstorming challenge is an effective teaching approach to keep students engaged in higher-order thinking and reflective discussion. I’ve used the case-based learning approach to promote active learning and intellectual student participation, but I really appreciate the idea of breaking the sessions into smaller modules for progressive learning. (Muhammad Sajid, Management)
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