Conference Program

The objective of the “Databases for Many Majors” project is to introduce fundamental database concepts to diverse majors, as part of enhancing data fluency of all students. Three animations have been developed to cover: an introduction to relational databases and how they differ from spreadsheets (IntroDB), how to query a relational database (QueryDB), and how to design a database (DesignDB). The animations use a dynamic presentation to introduce topics for visual learners. Each visualization also includes a formative self-assessment, called a checkpoint, to enhance the learning experience for the student. A novel aspect of these visualizations is the capability to customize the example database and accompanying textual explanations. The goal of the customizations is to allow educators in various fields to integrate these fundamental database concepts in the context of their discipline-specific course. The customization process is integrated within each animation so that the customizer can see the personalized animation as it develops. This tutorial will demonstrate the customization process, including a preview of the newly developed customization tool (CreateDB) to aid the domain experts in designing the data for the animations. There are several customizations of the IntroDB, QueryDB, and DesignDB animations already available at the project Web site (http://databasesmanymajors.faculty.asu.edu/) including Astronomy, Computational Molecular Biology, Environmental Science/Ecology, Forensics, Geographic Information Systems, and Statistics.

This workshop introduces Process-­Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) to CS instructors. In a POGIL classroom, teams of 3-5 learners work on activities with a particular structure based on learning cycles. Through scripted inquiry and investigation, learners discover concepts and construct their own knowledge. Using assigned team roles and other scaffolding, learners develop process skills and individual responsibility. The teacher is not a lecturer, but an active facilitator who helps all students to be engaged and achieve the learning objectives. POGIL is an evidence­-based approach, and has been shown to significantly improve student performance. Workshop participants will work through POGIL activities as students, and work through POGIL meta­-activities that are designed to help teachers learn core POGIL concepts, practices, and benefits. We will share POGIL materials for a variety of CS courses and concepts. We will also invite interested attendees to participate in IntroCS POGIL, a recently funded NSF project working to make it easier for CS faculty to adopt POGIL by disseminating high quality instructional resources and enhancing professional development practices. For more information, see http://cspogil.org and http://pogil.org, including activities for CS1, CS2, and other courses.