Sebastian

main page  —  COMP 335 Communicating Computer Science

CA1 – Essay

The first continuous assessment is an essay about a topic of your choice around computer science education.

Learning outcomes

  1. Be able to find, understand, and evaluate primary research articles in the area of computer science education.
  2. Be able to form and articulate an opinion on a computer science education thesis

Requirements

Every topic must get my approval before you go ahead. For that, you have to submit your topic in the Canvas assignment Topic for Essay (CA1).

Topic

An essay is a combination of a (neutral) overview of a topic plus a clearly articulated personal opinion of the author (supported by evidence). Usually, an essay topic hence is a question or a (potentially provocative) thesis.

There are two hard requirements:

  1. Your topic must touch on computer science and education.
  2. You must have academic references, ideally primary research literature, that you can cite and work with.

Ideally, your topic further touches on the legal/societal context of CS education, or empirical research on computing pedagogy, or on general learning theories.

Aim for a topic that allows both for different opinions (not something that is true or false beyond much doubt) and for factual evidence supporting arguments in favor of or against a certain opinion. Keep your topic concrete and specific; don’t be tempted to make broad, sweeping generalizations and don’t spread yourself too thinly.

While at least one reference should be a reputable academic source, it is usually helpful to cite further, less formal sources like blogs, YouTube videos, newspaper articles, etc., as well. In case of doubt, ask me about the suitability of references.

Format

Aim for around 2500 words (3–5 pages).
That is an indicative length; there are no automatic penalties for going over or under. But you have to make sure that your topic is discussed at a substantial depth and that you support your arguments with references. On the other hand, ensure that every sentence adds something useful – don’t waffle.

There are no specific requirements for formatting and typesetting; just make it nicely readable and be consistent (e.g. in the formatting of citations). Good typography always supports the reader in following your line of thought without being a distraction (“form follows function”).

Typical structure

As a general guideline, an essay should have

  1. an introduction to the topic, ending with your main thesis,
  2. a detailed presentation of viewpoints with arguments and references,
  3. an articulation of the author’s view (sometimes interleaved with the previous part), and
  4. a conclusion, giving the bigger picture and wider implications and maybe an outlook on the future of the topic.

Target Audience

Assume that you are writing for your peers on this module, or more generally computer science graduates/third-year students with some interest in education, but (potentially) no prior exposure to education research and pedagogy. If you need detail knowledge of some core CS topic, it might make sense to recap that briefly and cite a textbook chapter. Ideally, your essay would be valuable for current computing teachers, as well.

Aim for clear and concise language. Don’t use overly long and complex sentence constructions when a simpler one will do. No need to impress anyone with obscure vocabulary.

Academic integrity

Make sure that all your sources are properly cited (in line with the Code of practice on assessment).
Your essay will be checked by Turnitin’s plagiarism checker upon submission.

Marking scheme

As a rough indication of the relative importance, the overall mark will consider the following criteria:

  • Content (70%)
    Is the introduction to the topic self-contained and comprehensible? Is the thesis or question clearly articulated? Is the argumentation conclusive? Are arguments supported by appropriate evidence?
  • Organization (20%)
    Is there a clear structure visible? Is the division into sections helpful and consistent?
  • Grammar & Style (10%)
    How is the overall readability of the essay? Are language and style appropriate for the target audience?

Depending on the topic, the details of what makes up these categories might differ slightly; for some topics, giving a good overview is a substantial contribution of its own, whereas for another, the weight of good arguments for your opinion may be more important. I will take this into account when marking the three areas.

Example topics

Below are some exemplary topics; feel free to pick one of them if you like it. There are some initial sources listed, but you will have to find additional references on top of these.

Further inspiration

If you are looking for further ideas, have a look at the following. The articles are usually too short as a key reference themselves, but they link to primary literature.

Further hints

Some further pointers that might be useful.

Connections to your lessons

Think about possible connections to your lesson; maybe you can use the essay to identify a question that can be addressed in your lesson. For example, you could run a tiny empirical evaluation of a teaching method during your lesson and describe the theoretical background leading to this method in your essay.

References/Sources

It can be tough to weed out questionable references. A useful way is to check which publication venues are often cited in the sources for inspiration listed above. For example, the Proceedings of the ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education is one of the most reputable venues in the field (and not at all limited to the education in the US).

Writing tips

  • “KnowHow”
    online resources from our library on academic writing (and many other things, e.g., time management, fact checking, literature search)