Community Building and Joyful Learning in Computer Science Education Through Online At-Scale Seminars

Seminars change the landscape of Computer Science education by allowing for a non-traditional space of learning that employs synchronicity, community, and joyful engagement. This paper will discuss the benefits of seminars that are one-credit, pass/fail, and do not count toward graduation, in the Online Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS) program at Georgia Tech. Since these seminars are on a pass/fail grading scale and do not count towards graduation, they produce a low-stress environment of learning that allows students to focus on the joy of learning rather than commodified learning focused on assignment production and grades. These seminars are also more flexible than traditional three-credit courses and employ a wide range of pedagogical frameworks. Furthermore, they also address the most significant drawback to online at-scale education: a lack of sense of community. Many of the seminars are participation based and thus encourages community building with scheduled synchronously biweekly meeting and/or asynchronous engagement.