Mixed nuts : atypical classroom techniques for computer science courses

摘要

Didn’t expect that, did you? Neither did Steve Wolfman’s class when he let loose a bloodcurdlingnscream on the first day. His goal was to demonstrate the strength of community andnpooled resources. This point was clearly illustrated when he asked the entire lecture hall of two hundrednstudents to scream at the top of their lungs. Why? He was using an atypical teaching techniquento get the attention of the students and keep them interested. Students do not always learn all thatnthe instructor is trying to get across a lecture. In fact, it is likely that even students who can get thenmost out of a lecture grow restless and might be more involved in class if it were taught with a twist.nIn order to capture the interest of students more effectively, instructors could use atypical classroomntechniques. Moreover, unlike lecturing and giving homework, these unorthodox techniques can alsonkeep students attentive and target preferred learning styles. This article presents some experimentalnand anecdotal evidence to support the theory that the use of these techniques improves students’nlearning in an introductory Computer Science (CS) class.