SPRING QUARTER 2008 — Information and Computer Science — UC Irvine
Advanced Teaching Assistant Seminar — ICS 398B
COURSE SCHEDULE AND INFORMATION
Instructor: David G. Kay, 5056 Donald Bren Hall. Stop by any time, or send electronic mail to "kay".
Meeting time and place: Wednesdays 2:00 to 4:50 p.m., in room ICS 243. Since this is a two-unit course, we may adjust the times slightly or skip the occasional class meeting.
Course goals: In this course we will cover teaching computer science at the college level, from the instructor's perspective. This perspective is useful even for students, as consumers of instruction, but we presume that participants in this course have some (perhaps tentative) plans to teach computer science, whether through University Extension, Summer Sessions, or their own academic job. We will look at (and in most cases practice) designing and running one's own course, designing assignments and exams, setting grades, preparing teaching portfolios (records of your teaching for use in job applications and promotion cases), making curricular decisions, and other related issues.
Course requirements: This seminar is not designed to impose a large time burden on the participants beyond the class meetings themselves. Grading is satisfactory/unsatisfactory or pass/not-pass. But it is important that you attend the class meetings, participate in the discussions, and prepare for the various activities, which will include some readings and a variety of informal presentations leading towards your own complete design of a course.
Very approximate course schedule:
Week 1 |
April 2 |
Introductions and overview; planning a course |
Week 2 |
April 9 |
Clarifying curricular and pedagogical goals |
Week 3 |
April 16 |
Course design |
Week 4 |
April 23 |
Assignment design |
Week 5 |
April 30 |
Grading, plagiarism, managing graders |
Week 6 |
May 7 |
Exam design |
Week 7 |
May 14 |
Evaluation alternatives |
Week 8 |
May 21 |
Setting final grades |
Week 9 |
May 28 |
Curricular issues and teaching philosophies |
Week 10 |
June 4 |
Epilogue |