1 The Freshers’ Olympiad: a competitive social event for student success, helping students to make friends, start to feel they belong and practice key cognitive academic SKILLS Presentation by Stewart Green Rong yang Nick plant June 20th, 2017
2 structure PART ONE: framework for student successPart two: context for freshers’ olympiad Part three: freshers’ Olympiad I Aims Organisation Activities Part four: video Part five: freshers’ Olympiad ii Future Significance to other faculties Q & A
3 Part one: framework for student successFirst we will look at a framework for student success Based on research into: Achieving success in general Achieving success in computer science programmes
4 Research into Student SuccessHEA student retention and success project (HEA, 2017) 13 institutions; 43 disciplines Key findings: Primary focus should be on: building student engagement and feelings of a sense of belonging Computing programmes nationally poor success rate (Woodfield, 2014) Factors affecting poor computing success rate (Gordon, 2016) include: Inappropriate expectations of course Gender gap Poor organisational skills BME low performing We are developing a framework for improving student success in computer science programmes
5 Induction Framework for Student Success Year-one Open DaysStudent Lifecycle Stage Intervention for Success Problem Addressed or Opportunity Exploited Open Days Information on course Correct expectations Female student ambassadors Tackling gender gap Interact with students Building student-student & student-staff bonds Pre-Arrival joining instructions Directed learning activities Setting correct expectations Learning key threshold concepts Induction Freshers’ Olympiad Building student-student & student staff bonds Facilitate practical work Year-one Identify students at risk & taking remedial action Saving students at risk Alerting students at risk Facilitate group work Building student-student bonds Addressing assignment misconceptions
6 Part two: INDUCTION week context for freshers’ olympiad
7 Context – CSCT InductionA coherent range of activities at 3 levels:- Institution level:- Registration & welcome weekend events, … Freshers' Fair, other SU activities,... Department level:- Departmental Welcome Resources briefings (Prof Services as applicable to Dept.) Research talks Green IT talks Programming practical day Freshers’ Olympiad Programme level: initial welcome/briefing local programme-specific activities Previously centred around ‘administration’…
8 Context – CSCT Induction (2)Now a robust academic process with clear priorities and direction of travel:- Freshers are joining a diverse scholarly community Research talks (non-‘guru’) Green IT talks and activities Freshers are joining a discipline Pre-arrival briefing/activities Discipline specificity and connectivity Programming practicals Focus on personal and professional development Belonging and social identity; inclusivity Personalisation and individual caring – early APT engagement Freshers’ Olympiad a key contribution Process transformation starting Didactic “fresher as absorbent sponge” information-giving vs… Constructivist participative student-generated needs-driven alt. Induction as one element of continuous facilitated transition
9 Part three: freshers’ Olympiad iNext five slides are on the Olympiad’s: Aims Organisation Five key activities
10 Aims Help students to make friends quicklyHelp them to settle into their courses quickly Students practice: cognitive skills & practical skills that they will use in their first-year studies Be fun!
11 Relevant Academic SkillsTeams of five competing for prizes in competitions involving: Communication skills Abstract modelling skills Problem analysis and problem solving skills Practical modelling skills
12 The skills are introduced using activities Activities involve both: Team and Individual Working The skills are introduced using activities Activities involve both: Tasks for individuals and Tasks for teams
13 A fifth activity, speed networking, facilitates: Meeting and chatting to many more new students
14 Organisation 3 hour event Large open space200 students from seven awards Teams of five 40 numbered tables 5 workstation tables PA system Marking templates Marking spreadsheet
15 Schedule Session-one (60 minutes) Table-based activityArena-based activity Session-two (30 minutes) Speed networking & refreshments Session-three (60 minutes) Session-four (30 minutes) Prize giving
16 Abstract modelling tuition Activity-1: Individual and Team Abstract Modelling Abstract modelling tuition Think about the process of how a company handles an order. The company will receive an order, check that the buyer’s credit is ok, fulfil the order and send out an invoice. In the BPMN notation this process is modelled graphically as follows:
17 Abstract Modelling: More TuitionBut what happens if the buyer’s credit is not ok, or the goods aren’t in stock? A more complete model of the order process is: The thin circle at the start is called a start event. The thick circles at the end is called an end event. The rounded rectangles are called activities. They represent actions. They have names of the form VERB-NOUN, e.g. Send Invoice.
18 1st Model In your team, consider the process involved in dining at a first-class restaurant. Your party will be greeted on arrival and then seated; next your order will be taken. This will be followed by your meal being served and finally payment will be collected. Model this process using the provided notation
19 2nd Model Now consider the seating process in more detail.If you have booked in advance, you will be assigned a table straight away. If you haven’t, the waiter will check to see if there is a free table; if there is one, you will be assigned to it. If there isn’t, the waiter will see if tables can be rearranged to seat you; if he can, you will be assigned the rearranged tables; if he can’t, he will invite you to wait for a table; and after a certain amount of time he will check again for an available table. Model this process using the provided notation
20 Activity-2: Team CommunicationDuring the first hour, While teams are doing abstract modelling, each team in turn is called to a workstation where four team members describe a drawn figure to a fifth, who can’t see it, but has to draw it!
21 Team Communication
22 The Drawing
23 Low Scoring Drawing: 3/10
24 High Scoring Drawing: 9/10
25 Interval: Tea and Speed Networking200 people, 40 tables, 5 per table Using half hour refreshment break: maximize the total number of new people meeting each other Three rounds: In each round students move to a new table to meet new people. We wrote a computer program to generate a schedule for each individual student
26 Speed Networking Scheduling AlgorithmData structures used: Relation-matrix to track who has met who People-lists to track who has been assigned or not assigned From round one to round N do { From table one to table M do { Randomly assign people to a table until it’s full If a person has met any one on the table, pick another person After assigning a person, update the relation matrix } }// if no suitable person, backtrack
27 Activity-4: Team-Based Decision Making GameTeams play a game simulating the speedy identification and elimination of dodgy s
28 Retired activity-4: Design and BuildDesigning and building artefacts: Key skill for computer science students An earlier version of the Olympiad involved: Individual activity: create a paper aeroplane from a sheet of A4 paper… … and fly it! Distance flown gains points Generated lots of interactions!!!
29 Flying Launch! Prepare to launch.
30 Activity-5: Analysis and Problem SolvingToday, we use sat navs and smart phones to navigate from A to B Finding shortest distance between 2 points in a network is classical problem in computer science Solving the “travelling salesman problem” A classical computationally “expensive” problem Encourages teamwork Requires arithmetic and problem solving skills The problem is directly related to year one Computer Science and Computing modules
31 Find the Shortest Route from A-block back to A-block Visiting Everywhere OnceExplanation Campus map On the right is our campus map Each node is a building The task is to plan the shortest route from A-block back to A-block, visiting each other block exactly once
32 Distances Table The distance between blocks in metres.So, e.g. D to C is 24 metres
33 Results were totalled for each team Marks for tasks were normally distributed across teams So task difficulty had been judged (approximately) correctly
34 Prize Giving
35 Part four: video Edited highlights of the Olympiad
36 Part FOUR: freshers’ Olympiad 2014-15: videohttps://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/hdFN1xZvVc8 tcJ0P4I7uBC1ZhMaW2XVBKnBMlFUa7Pq?ref_=cd_ph_share_l ink_copy Thanks to: Simon Spokes (filming) & Steve Brown (editing). Part FOUR: freshers’ Olympiad : video
37 Part FOUR: freshers’ Olympiad 2014-15: videohttps://vimeo.com/ /c859581e76 Thanks to: Simon Spokes (filming) & Steve Brown (editing).
38 Part five: freshers’ Olympiad IIFeedback, resources and significance
39 Student Feedback “I found the speed networking exercise useful.For some strange reason many computer people are not the most extrovert and this was a really good icebreaker. The time limits meant you got to meet lots of different people” “The travelling salesperson was ok I liked the fact it was intellectual rather than practical – I hate those things where you have to build something out of straws & milk bottle tops. The paper planes thing was fun and again, a good way of meeting other students.” “I enjoyed the social a lot. That is actually where I made some of my closest friends, including one person I am living with next year. The activities were good for teams to do. A valuable experience!”
40 Students’ Criticisms and Constructive Suggestions“One final very small thing, it didn't say there would be food there, so I had lunch beforehand. This meant I missed out on the sandwiches.” Re the travelling salesman: “I did find that the salesman problem was quite long to get through.” “The travelling salesperson was ok but it's not really something that involves teamwork” “I think something that could be broken into several components would have been more suited to teamwork.” “I would suggest to use more of a technological approach, for example games that use mobile phones or computers for solving problems that are fun and interactive for a whole team.”
41 Very cost-effective event: Resources 1: Staff Costs Very cost-effective event: 200+ students managed by just 6 members of staff who: Supervised activities Marked activities
42 Resources 2: Material A4 paper 200 pencils 20 rubbersColoured scellotape (for distance markers on floor) Table numbers Blue tac Marking sheet pro formas Marking spreadsheet PA system Arcade game machine (optional)
43 Resources 3: Hour-1 Table MaterialModelling instructions x 5 (one for each team member) Modelling answer template with header x 1 (team answer) A4 paper for draft modelling x 5 Drawing task marking sheet x 1 5 pencils 1 rubber
44 Resources 4: Hour-2 Table MaterialTravelling salesman instructions x 5 Travelling salesman answer sheet x 1 (team answer) Aeroplane paper x 5 (one for each team member)(optional) Aeroplane instructions x 1 (for the table) Aeroplane marking sheet x 1 (for the team)
45 Problem analysis and solving Communication Abstract and Other Faculties and Universities may Adopt and Adapt Either: Customise the activities we used for these categories of cognitive skills: Problem analysis and solving Communication Abstract and Concrete modelling Or: Replace one or more of these categories with your own and Choose appropriate activities for your categories
46 Questions and/or Feedback
47 References Gordon, N.A. (2016) Issues in retention and attainment in Computer Science. York: Higher Education Academy. https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resource/issues-retention-and-attainment-computer-science [Accessed 1st June 2017] HEA (2017) What Works? Student retention and success change programme: Phase 2 https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/individuals/student-success/retention/what-works [Accessed 1st June, 2017] Woodfield, R. (2014) Undergraduate retention and attainment across the disciplines. York: Higher Education Academy. https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resource/issues-retention-and-attainment-computer-science [Accessed 1st June, 2017]