Students Investigating Pedagogy: A Project for Learning about Learning in CS

As part of a graduate topics course in Computer Science Education, computer science students on project teams were assigned to investigate an undergraduate CS course. Each team examined course materials, interviewed the faculty member teaching the course, observed a class session of the course, produced a report of their findings, and then developed a research question and plan that could potentially be explored in the context of that course. We report on an interview study conducted to investigate the value of this course project from the perspective of the graduate students enrolled and the faculty members observed. Our findings indicate that the graduate students developed a deeper understanding of pedagogical challenges in computer science and wanted to engage further on the project. Faculty participants wanted more time with the teams and found that participating in the project provided a unique opportunity to reflect on their teaching practices.