George Mason University SPARC Public state research university 34K students (65% undergrad) Virginia DC suburbs Extremely diverse student body (<50% European, 33% first generation) Computer Science department 44 faculty members 1000 undergraduate majors (2014: 900, 2010: 450) 365 MS students, ~150 PhD students Undergraduate majors 14% female, 46% European, 27% Asian CS 1 growth: 2015—500+, 2014—484, 2011—215 CS 2 growth: 2015—250+, 2014—214, 2011—106 Offutt, Ammann, Dobolyi, Lester, Rangwala, Setia, Wang, White

Challenges of the Surge SPARC This dramatic increase makes retention and quality preservation very difficult Traditional CS1 and CS2 courses Use the same assignments for practice and assessment Expect all students to learn at the same rate Catching cheaters is a major priority We use antiquated content delivery (lectures) Students are very diverse Incoming knowledge Learning speed Learning styles Offutt, Ammann, Dobolyi, Lester, Rangwala, Setia, Wang, White

The SPARC Concept The Black-belt Model SPARC Self-paced demonstration of skills and knowledge Students earn stripes and belts Collaborative practice problems (peer learning) No competition Multiple attempts are allowed Automated grading of assessments Self-paced learning Online content delivery Instructors work with students individually cs.gmu.edu/~kdobolyi/cs112/ Offutt, Ammann, Dobolyi, Lester, Rangwala, Setia, Wang, White