Collaborative Research: Innovative Active Learning Using Tablets

A microlab is a form of active learning where students are asked to complete a 5-10 minute conceptual or programming activity during lecture. These labs can be delivered on tablets, laptops or desktops. In a logical microlab, students are asked to solve a conceptual problem by arranging and connecting on-screen icons and submitting their solutions to an automated grading system (the exploration phase of the microlab learning cycle). Then the instructor helps students discover an algorithm to solve the problem (the invention phase). In the application phase, students are asked to implement this algorithm by dragging and dropping program statements, known as code magnets, to form a method that is then compiled and tested. This approach had been evaluated over the last two years by an independent evaluator and proved to be both educationally effective and popular with students.

This project is a collaboration among three universities: Appalachian State University, SUNY Stony Brook, and UNC Greensboro. The goals are (1) expand the development of microlabs as an effective form of active learning and (2) in workshops organized by the collaborative universities, train other faculty at regional universities to use existing microlabs and develop new microlabs. Independent assessment of learning outcomes is continuing for these new activities.

The intellectual merit includes further development of the microlab approach and expanded application to new courses in the computer science curriculum. Broader impact involves the development of cost-effective on-site workshops to train other faculty to adopt the microlab approach and develop new microlabs, implementation of a microlab repository for sharing these materials nationwide, and development of a proactive model using small stipends to encourage new contributions to the repository.