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Subgoal labeling is an instructional design framework for breaking down problems into pieces that are small enough for novices to grasp, and often difficult for instructors (i.e., experts) to articulate. Subgoal labels have been shown to improve student performance during problem solving in many disciplines, including computing. Improved student performance occurs because subgoal labels improve student transfer and retention of knowledge. With support from NSF (DUE-1712025, 1712231, 1927906, 2110156, 2111578), subgoal labels have been previously identified and integrated into a CS1 course (variables, expressions, conditionals, loops, arrays, classes) and an e-book has been created on the Runestone platform to enable students to complete practice problems using the subgoals. The initial implementation focused on Java, but within the past year, the development of subgoals for CS1 courses in Python have been created. Subsequently, course materials have been created as well. This workshop will introduce participants to the new materials (in Python) and demonstrate how the subgoal labels and worked examples are integrated throughout the course. Materials include worked examples and practice problems that increase in complexity and difficulty within each topic. The materials are designed to be integrated into CS1 courses as homework or classroom examples and activities. Assessment of topics using subgoal labels will also be discussed. Participants will also engage in an activity where they create an example for their own course using subgoal labels. 

Subgoal labeling is an instructional design framework for breaking down problems into pieces that are small enough for novices to grasp, and often difficult for instructors (i.e., experts) to articulate. Subgoal labels have been shown to improve student performance during problem solving in disciplines both in and out of computing. Improved student performance occurs because subgoal labels improve student transfer and retention of knowledge. With support from NSF (DUE-1712025, #1712231), subgoal labels have been identified and integrated into a CS1 course (variables, expressions, conditionals, loops, arrays, classes). This workshop will introduce participants to the materials and demonstrate how the subgoal labels and worked examples are integrated throughout the course. Materials include over 100 worked examples and practice problem pairs that increase in complexity and difficulty within each topic. The materials are designed to be integrated into CS1 courses as homework or classroom examples and activities. Assessment of topics using subgoal labels will also be discussed. Participants will also engage in an activity where they create an example for their own course using subgoal labels. 

In recent years, interactive textbooks have gained prominence in an effort to overcome student reluctance to routinely read textbooks, complete assigned homeworks, and to better engage students to keep up with lecture content. Interactive textbooks are more structured, contain smaller amounts of textual material, and integrate media and assessment content. While these are an arguable improvement over traditional methods of teaching, issues of academic integrity and engagement remain. In this work we demonstrate preliminary work on building interactive teaching modules for data structures and algorithms courses with the following characteristics, (1) the modules are highly visual and interactive, (2) training and assessment are tightly integrated within the same module, with sufficient variability in the exercises to make it next to impossible to violate academic integrity, (3) a data logging and analytic system that provides instantaneous student feedback and assessment, and (4) an interactive visual analytic system for the instructor to see students’ performance at the individual, sub-group or class level, allowing timely intervention and support for selected students. Our modules are designed to work within the infrastructure of the OpenDSA system, which will promote rapid dissemination to an existing user base of CS educators. We demonstrate a prototype system using an example dataset.