Change of Base as a Change of Pace

LUNCH
Lunch is served at 11:45 am.

ABSTRACT
Student engagement in courses is key; if you are not paying attention, you will not learn! In the first part of this talk, a mock lecture, we will cover change of base operations. Student feedback has indicated that change of base is helpful in multiple computer science courses, yet the topic can be done in a short time frame such as this. This portion will include discussion with your "classmates," so be prepared to chat!

In the second part, we will look at how the variety of active learning methods in the first part can help drive student engagement, some of the student feedback I have collected regarding these methods, and some techniques I hope to try in the future. A common quote is that "the only thing that scales with undergraduates is undergraduates," meaning that as our course sizes grow, we are more and more reliant on our UTAs. This portion will include some of my methods for ensuring that TAs for small group sections are synchronized across sections and prepared to help with active learning. With large classes we are dependent on a combination of automated data collection e.g. surveys and our TAs to keep students engaged and measure their learning, making these ever more important.

SPEAKER BIO
Kate O'Hanlon is a Teaching Associate at Duke University, where she supports courses on data structures, mathematics, and algorithms, and assists with academic advising. In summers, she teaches the discrete math course. This has provided experience in courses ranging in size from eight students to over five hundred. Outside of class, she enjoys organizing social bonding events; she was a founding member of the department social committee and is still a leading member. Her interests include finding new ways to engage students, feeding people candy, and mentoring TAs. Kate received her bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from Wellesley College, and her master's degree in Computer Science from Duke University.