Designing a CS1 Programming Course for a Mixed-Ability Class
Abdallah Mohamed · 2019
First year programming-courses attract a diverse crowd of students. In the same course, we often get Computer Science (CS) and non-CS students who bring mixed-abilities and different learning needs to the classroom. Teaching the same material to all of these students present an interesting challenge to the instructor. This paper introduces a successful design of a CS1 programming course at the University of British Columbia - Okanagan. This design incorporated several teaching strategies, such as the partially-flipped classroom model and pair-programming, which were used to teach programming fundamentals by building animations and games using Processing, an open-source language that uses simplified Java syntax in a visually engaging environment. Initial results after applying the new design show improved class average grade, increased pass-rate, and higher student engagement and satisfaction.