Programming studio
Michael A. Woodley of Menie, Samuel N. Kamin · 2007
Even after taking numerous programming courses, many students have poor programming skills. This is a problem not only in their post-graduation employment, but even in the higher-level Computer Science courses, where large programs are routinely assigned. Yet, teaching programming skills is expensive; like teaching writing, it can only be accomplished by a repeated cycle of writing, getting informed feedback, and rewriting. In this paper, we describe a computer science course designed around the concept of a studio course like those used in art and architecture. Its key elements are practice, public presentation, and review by peers in a small group. We discuss our experience in teaching the course for two years. We believe this course can be replicated and taught, at reasonable cost, even in large CS departments.