solve problems and develop skills . In line with this , the lecturing time in the lab is kept to a minimum and the students are given directed tasks . Each session now has a ten minute lecture to introduce a topic , after which the students are given a lab task to complete by midnight on the following Sunday evening . This sharply contrasts with the ‘ play around with it ’ approach used previously , and was intended to help bridge the gap between effective and ineffective novices ( Robins , Rountree and Rountree , 2003 ). For example , the final task introduces the students to arrays , but also requires that they use primitives , variables , animation , loops , decisions and user input . The repetition of these topics as part of new work allows the students to develop mastery . The fact that the majority of the lab classes are given over to working on these tasks means that the students are able to begin their work in a supportive environment with multiple staff members on hand to assist , allowing them to address any problems before potentially completing the work at home .
While these lab tasks were introduced as a part of the Range of Hardware and Software Tasks assessment and contributed 10 % of the overall module mark , they were marked purely on engagement . There was one mark available for each section , and this would be awarded if the student had made an honest attempt at completing that part . This encourages engagement without deterring any ineffective novices .
The lab tasks allowed for the module assessment to be streamlined . Assembly language is now assessed as part of the exam , rendering the assembly language assignment unnecessary . Instead , the Range of Hardware and Software Tasks now consists of the logic assignment ( 15 % of the overall module mark ) and the lab tasks ( 10 % of the overall module mark ). The two formative and summative programming assignments were also redundant and , hence , removed . This all meant that it was possible to make the assignment more challenging by including a ‘ functionality ’ criterion that assessed how well the final program fulfilled its purpose . The updated breakdown of the module assessment is given in Figure 3 . Overall , the number of assignments was reduced from ten to six .
Inclusivity
The reasons for lower female retention in Computer Science are complex , with Beyer , et al . ( 2003 ) citing the availability of same-sex peer support , characteristics of the faculty and the community environment as key factors . While the first two items go beyond the scope of this work , the classroom environment in FYO-00096 does not . The ideas of problems with the environment , including perceived stereotypes , isolation from peers outside of computing , sexual harrassment and a sense of belonging , have been echoed in numerous past studies ( Cheryan , et al ., 2019 ; Giannakos , et al ., 2017 ; Master , Cheryan and Meltzoff , 2016 ; Michell , et al ., 2017 ). Beyer , Rynes and Haller ( 2004 ), Malik and Al-Emran ( 2018 ) and Sax , et al . ( 2017 ) also emphasised a need to show that computing can help people , as female students were more motivated by being able to improve lives through their work than by their future job prospects .
Amongst issues such as a perception of computing being incompatible with communal goals and a relative lack of experience , Beyer ( 2017 ) identified one key problem as a lack of appealing role models . Hence , one of the simplest means of creating a more inclusive environment was to have a five minute ‘ heroes of computing ’ section at the start of each theory lecture . Each week , a relevant figure from the world of computing would be introduced to the group with a short , humorous biography . While many of the key pioneers from this time period come from a similar background ( such as Boole , de Morgan and Babbage , or Shockley , Brattain , Shannon and others from 1940 - 1980 ), this gives ample scope to discuss important female computer scientists such as Margaret Hamilton , Sr . Mary Kenneth Keller and Grace Hopper . There is also cultural diversity , with the history of the binary number system covering Egypt , China , India and Mangareva . This all emphasises that contributions have been made by both men and women of varied backgrounds , which helps build a supportive environment . Additionally , humour and storytelling have been shown to have a positive effect on learning ( Garner , 2006 ; Nasiri and Mafakheri , 2015 ; Papadimitriou , 2003 ; Short and Martin , 2011 ).
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