Home
--- Introduction
--- Content Summary
--- Acknowledgements

Context
--- Teaching Philosophy
--- Institutional Context

Course Structure
--- Aims, Objectives, Content
--- Delivery Methods
--- Assessment

Reflection
--- Commenting on Content
--- Use of Voting Handsets
--- Laboratory Examination
--- Written Examination
--- Continuous Assessment
--- Overcoming Blocks

Outcomes
--- New course rationale
--- Personal learning

I have viewed the context in which the course is embedded from three contributing factors:

• University
• Department
• Students

Each section gives (relatively) factual details of the particular factor and closes with my observations (ramifications) on how this factor affects the course.

University

The University of Glasgow is an ancient, metropolitan university with around 16,000 undergraduate students, 25,000 staff and students all up. Degrees. Its principal offerings at the Science undergraduate level are a 3-yr BSc non-Honours "Designated" degree, a 4-yr BSc Honours degree and a 5-yr MSci degree.

Entry. Entry is to a Faculty, not to a Department. This acknowledges the 4-yr programme, in which a student may well end up taking a different degree from that originally stated - see course structure, below. Entry requirements are: Scottish Highers: 4 Bs with two Sciences (Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Maths, Geography, Geology, Computing, Info. Systems); 3 Bs or ABC if all three are Sciences; ABBB if only one Science; A-levels: BCC with two Sciences, CCC with three, BBC with one; HNC/HND also considered.

Course structure. Students take three separate subjects in first year, and then two subjects in second year, before settling on a single subject (or sometimes a combined or joint pairing of subjects) for their final two Honours years. This early breadth is typical (although not universal) of Scottish universities, and acknowledges that school pupils may not always make the best choice of subject on leaving school. Provided they pass their first year subjects acceptably they may take any two of these in second year, or indeed just one if they are confident of Honours in this subject, filling the rest of their second year curriculum with new subjects at first year level.

Ramifications of University structure. A level 1 course at Glasgow should typically be designed to attract both intending specialists in the subject and 'grazers' - those who have a second or third subject to fill, and are taking the subject speculatively. Ensuring the course keeps the interest of this wide range of interests can be challenging. However, since Computing Science is poorly understood outside university, the flexibility to move both in and out of a CS degree as early as possible is in general a positive thing. Additionally, the relatively small exposure to Computing concepts in first year should be considered. Some think that immersion in programming learning is better, while others think that a slow drip-feed, with time to catch up if behind, is more appropriate. The jury is out. One definite drawback of the Faculty entry system is that students don't really have a home in their first two years - no Department really takes ownership of them - and at the critical transfer from school to university, I think this is a major disadvantage.

Department

The Department of Computing Science first and foremost is a research-oriented department, in that the rewards for good research appear larger than those for good teaching. Until recently, first year student numbers were so high (480 in 1992), that student failure (or rather, movement to another degree programme) was not a priority. Attitudes are now (just) beginning to change as income has dropped drastically with falling student numbers in recent years - although the emphasis is still much more strongly towards Masters programmes that may produce PhD students than towards the Undergraduate programme, and student retention there.

The department believes strongly in teaching Computing Science with a significant practical element. This is not about teaching the current fad technology. Rather, we believe that our students will understand concepts in CS deeply if they can realise them in working programs, in a range of languages. We are undoubtedly proud of the fact that our placement students pick up new languages and systems in a matter of days, according to their employers. We have significant and individualised team and solo projects at honours level which represent significant staff commitment, but which we believe offer an important contribution to student learning.

Hence we are oddly caught in a strong research culture, yet we obviously do care about our teaching. We don't examine our methods that much - we tend to do "what we've always done" for the most part - a course typically consists of lectures, laboratory sessions and tutorials. Teaching innovation is not fostered explicitly from the top, although some brave souls do experiment with new techniques and approaches.

Ramifications of Departmental attitudes. The closer students get to research level, the more interest the department appears to take in them. I have tried many innovations in the introductory programming course, but the level of support from the department has been limited. The innovations are tolerated rather than embraced or encouraged. I am genuinely unsure about whether I have been a lone ranger, not reaching out for support, or whether the department wouldn't have offered even if I had asked!

Students

Scottish students may enter university at the age of 17. A very large proportion of the students (70+%) live at home.

Ramifications of student demographics. The intellectual maturity of many of the students does not fit well to a course which expects significant independent study from the very early weeks. Many students have made little life commitment to be at university - most particularly, they've neither moved out of their home, nor any great distance from the comfort zone of family and existing social circles. There is little understanding of the academic need for integration with the University - getting to know other students, spending any more than the minimal scheduled contact time in the University, or joining extra-curricula student activities such as societies or sports clubs. University is viewed as an extension of school, rather than as the radically new approach to learning which is required. Drop out rates are high, and I believe it is this lack of commitment to a new way of life that is the principal cause.