Authors: @apawlik @dbrunson @jduckles
https://www.xsede.org/web/xsede16/call-for-participation
We plan to run a half-day workshop that introduces XSEDE16 attendees to Software and Data Carpentry's pedagogy and lessons in an interactive hands on environment where we let attendees experience small parts of our various lessons. The goal of this workshop is not to deliver the full content of a workshop but to introduce XSEDE attendees and campus champions to the impactful approach to teaching that has made Software and Data Carpentry so popular around the world.
Software and Data Carpentry teaching model to help with outreach and increasing diversity in science and technology We can discuss whether and how the pedagogical approach used by Carpentries can help working with learners from under-represented groups. Such learners may already have difficult experiences in their education: struggling to keep up with lessons, feeling intimidated by the "expert teachers", not being able to use in practice what is taught at the lecture and so on.
Software and Data Carpentry pedagogical approach is based on hands-on learning experience. There are no slides and the instructors teach live coding in front of the classroom. Students work on their own machines (or machines provided by the hosting institution, if needed) following the instructor's steps. They actually have a chance to try out new skills.
Live coding typically forces the instructors to slow down allowing for the participants to keep up with the lesson. LIve coding also leads to live debugging. When the instructor makes a mistake, students have a chance to see how to recover from errors. Seeing the instructor make mistakes also contributes to students' feeling more confident about their own skills. The potential perception of "experts don't make mistakes" that students may have (and thus feel intimidated) is also challenged.
Helpers provide quick and effective support to learners. Thanks to that the learners don't fall behind. They also gain more confidence working with new tools, they may feel less intimidated because if they make a mistake, they know they will receive help quickly. The recommended / ideal ration is 1 helper per 6-7 learners.
We use Etherpad at workshops for collaborative note taking, pasting in bits of code, answers to questions, links and so on. The Etherpad on one hand allows more shy students to voice their questions or concerns but since it is not 100% anonymous, it prevents any undesirable, offending behaviour.
Students use green and pink post-it notes to signal that they need help (pink) or that they have completed a task (green). They don't have to keep their hand up. It's less intimidating.
We encourage students to solve exercises in pairs and discuss during the workshops.
Apart from the pedagogical approach as described above, Software and Data Carpentry engages in a number of activities to support under-represented groups:
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Workshops for Women in Science and Engineering These workshops are run by all-female staff (instructors and helpers) and addressed at female researchers and scientists. All WiSE workshops are granted fee waivers. Many of these events have been attracted sponsorship and apart from the training included a discussion panel about closing the gender gap in computing fields.
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Workshops in countries/regions where education / R&D is under-financed
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Instructor Training and supporting instructor pool in countries/regions where education / R&D is under-financed
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Collaborative approach to material and infrastructure development
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Inclusive community of practice and community of peers (every member has the same right to speak up; care is taken to provide attribution of ideas to the original authors)
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Code of Conduct - obligatory for all community and in use at all workshops
In order to demonstrate the Software Carpentry approach to teaching we will run a short demo session. This session will be run just like a teaching module would be taught at a regular workshop. Two certified Software Carpentry instructors will teach one of the Software Carpentry modules, automation using command line aka Unix Shell. We encourage the participants to come with their own laptops and become learners. Even if you are a regular command line user, you will still enjoy the session as a learner experiencing the teaching methods. Please see the usual setup instructions which we send out to learners to make sure your laptop is ready. This demo session will last approximately one (?) hour. The instructor will teach a part of the material using the hands-on teaching style (that is why we would like you to bring your laptops), live coding, post-it notes and peer learning.
(room requirements: classrom layout - not a lecture theatre!; a projector; whiteboard is useful; plenty of power points)