CS 433 Self-learning Assessment (Spring 2012)
Instructor: Xiaoyu Zhang
In an ever changing field as Computer Science, students will have to pick up new skills and knowledge immediately after graduating from CSUSM. In CS433 students were asked to learn Linux programming environment by themselves, e.g. Linux commands, the make utility and some Unix system call API, in order to complete the programming assignments. Some of the knowledge was practiced in earlier classes such as CS311/211. However it was reinforced and expanded to handle larger programming projects in CS433. To facilitate the self-learning, the instructor provided sample makefile, practical guide and tutorials, and links to online resources.
On the scale of 0 to 5, students did 5 on this self-learning assignment.
Questionnaire:
Your answers to the following questions will help CSUSM CS Department assess how students learn on their own.
Q1: How helpful was the following in helping you learn to finish programming projects in the class?
(Waste of time = 1, Not helpful = 2, Neutral = 3, Helpful = 4, Very helpful = 5)
Advice from the class instructor: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Discussion with group members: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Discussion with students outside of your group: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Discussion with someone outside of the class: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Web search: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Social Networks (Facebook, Twiter, etc.): 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Research papers in scientific journals and conferences: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Text books and other technical books/manuals: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Others (Please specify):
______: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
______: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Q2: What difficulty did you encounter learning on your own? I encountered the following factor which caused difficulty in my learning:
(I strongly disagree = 1, neutral = 3, I strongly agree that it was a problem = 5)
Lack of time: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Lack of computer and network resources: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Lack of advice or guidance from the class instructor: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Lack of help from class members: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Lack of help from students outside of your class: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Lack of information on the Web: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Lack of information on Social Networks: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Lack of research papers in scientific journals and conferences: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Lack of technical books and manuals on the subject: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Others (Please specify):
______: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
______: 1 2 3 4 5 Do not apply
Q3: If you have suggestions as to how students can learn more effectively on their own, please provide it in the space below.
Questionnaire results and analysis:
In CS433, students were asked to by themselves learn Linux programming environment and some basic API to finish the programming assignments. Comparisons between assignments were not applicable because those were required for all programming assignments. The self-learning was successful as shown in that most students finished the programming assignments successfully. Students can choose to work in a group of two for the programming assignments, so that they can help each other in the learning process, which turned out to be effective in the questionnaire results.
Questionnaires returned from students and statistics of the questionnaire results are attached to this report. 37 students returned the answered questionnaires.
(1) Analysis of effective learning tools:
Summary of the data for effective learning tools:
Students / # of NAs / average (over those who did not say NA)Q1: How helpful was the following in finding an answer to the research question? (Waste of time = 1, Not helpful = 2, Neutral = 3, Helpful = 4, Very helpful = 5)
Advice from the class instructor / 5 / 3.97
Discussion with group members / 4 / 4.48
Discussion with students outside of your group / 3 / 4.09
Discussion with someone outside of the class: / 10 / 3.85
Web search / 0 / 4.51
Social Networks (Facebook, Twiter, etc.) / 20 / 1.41
Research papers in scientific journals and conferences / 17 / 2.20
Text books and other technical books/manuals / 2 / 3.83
Students used a number of learning tools in their self-learning and found following most effective:
discussion with group members (4.48), and web search (4.51). This shows that letting students work in groups help their self-learning.
Additional observation is that students interacted with students outside of group and the class (as seen by “discussion with students outside of your group” = 4.09 and “discussion with someone outside of the class = 3.85).
Another observation is that students found social networks is the least effective in self-learning, suggesting that interactive learning with friends on social network media is not popular.
As compared to the results in CS331, the positive results showed higher numeric values, suggesting that students in CS433 (mostly senior) might have better skills and confidences in self-learning.
(2) Analysis of difficulties in self-learning:
Summary of the data for learning difficulties:
Students / # of NAs / average (over those who did not say NA)Q2: What difficulty did you encounter learning on your own? (I strongly disagree = 1, neutral = 3, I strongly agree that it was a problem = 5)
I encountered the following factor which caused difficulty in my learning:
Lack of time / 1 / 3.64
Lack of computer and network resources / 1 / 1.72
Lack of advice from the class instructor / 2 / 2.11
Lack of help from group members / 3 / 1.97
Lack of help from students outside of your group / 6 / 2.00
Lack of information on Webs / 1 / 1.83
Lack of information on Social Networks: / 24 / 3.00
Lack of research papers in scientific journals and conferences / 15 / 2.73
Lack of technical books and manuals on the subject / 4 / 2.06
Similar to the questionnaire results in CS331, students chose “Lack of time” as the most significant difficulty for self-learning (3.64). This may be because undergraduate students usually take many classes and can be overwhelmed with the course work.
(3) Comments from students as to how to improve self-learning.
Some comments suggest the importance of having easy access to Linux/Unix environment for self-learning, e.g. installing virtual machine for Linux. One comment showed strong desire to have a CS lab open 24/7 to students so that they can work at midnight.
Some comments are related to the course and instructions. Some students asked for smaller and easier assignments, and more discussions of the programming assignments in class. This may suggest that students who have difficulty in basic programming may also have difficulties in self-learning new knowledge. This requires that the instructor continuously monitoring the students and encouraging the students with difficulties to obtain additional assistances.