Is remote attendance allowed? Will lectures/meetings be recorded?

We will be remote for the first 2 weeks (January 21 & 28) and subsequently in person in the Woz Lounge of Soda Hall. Zoom attendance is required (links at left; click "Zoom" in the left nav bar) for the first two weeks and in-person attendance is required the rest of the semester, unless campus guidelines evolve otherwise or you have a documented medical exemption. 2 unexcused absences are allowed; excused absences (illness, exam conflict, etc.) by discussion with instructors. The attendance and participation is a requirement to pass, and we will not give last minute Incompletes for failing to meet it. If you have a systematic time conflict with this class, do not enroll or you will not pass.

I'm an undergraduate/uGSI, can I take CS 375?

Yes, to enroll you need to complete this short form and then the CS enrollments manager Cindy Conners will enroll you.

I took CS 375 in the summer and need to enroll this semester for credit. What do I do?

You will be automatically enrolled in a special section of this course. No further action is required on your part.

Can I take CS 375 without having a concurrent UGSI/GSI appointment?

No. Many of the required assignments and activities assume that you have a (U)GSI appointment and we cannot create alternative work for you if you don't. Please take CS 375 in conjunction with such an appointment.

I'm not in CS, but can I still take CS 375 instead of my department's 375 (e.g. due to scheduling conflicts)?

We welcome everyone, and you don't need any special permission to enroll. BUT, a lot of what we do is tailored to the course formats and assessment techniques most widely used in CS. You may find that they don't apply as well to you. And a great deal of what we do is small-group-based, with (U)GSIs who teach the same or very similar courses being placed in the same groups.

So, pedagogically, we can't recommend CS 375 if your main teaching assignment is not EECS or EECS-adjacent; but it may be better than not taking any 375 course if that is the only other option.

Some other alternatives you might consider:

IEOR 375

Link to Ed: https://edstem.org/us/courses/12866

Course Information

Prof. Armando Fox (email: fox [at] berkeley.edu)
TA Victor Huang (email: vhuang [at] eecs.berkeley.edu)
Lecture-Discussion: Fridays 2:00-4:00 pm, Wozniak Lounge (438 Soda Hall)
2 units: 2-hour weekly lecture-discussion section
Grading: P/NP, based on attendance and participation.
Open to all graduate students. This course has also been approved for the UC Berkeley Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.

Course Summary & Learning Goals

This course provides skills for graduate student instructors (GSIs) from any department to hold discussion and practice of techniques for effective teaching, focusing on issues most relevant to teaching assistants in computer science courses. Topics include: understanding the basic roles and responsibilities of GSIs at UC Berkeley, basic pedagogical theory, creating formative and summative assessments, harnessing peer learning, developing curriculum encouraging student-engaged learning.

A substantial portion of the course focuses on creating and stewarding a climate that advances the goals of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Justice (DEIBJ) in the context of CS instruction, such as dealing with microaggressions and implicit bias, recognizing and acting on signs of student distress (whether academic or climate related), and more.

After successful completion of this course, (u)GSIs will be able to:

Describe the basic roles and responsibilities of TAs at UCB and how one should use these to discuss expectations with the professor.
Recognize basic concept vocabulary around pedagogy, and provide/construct examples of these concepts (as much as is applicable) in your course, including: constructivism; social constructivism; metacognitive awareness; formative and summative assessment; peer learning; learning gain; the testing effect; transfer learning.
Develop, describe, and implement a discussion section activity to support student-centric learning and actively engage students in discussion sections.
Describe at least 3 ways to “find out what students don’t know” (e.g., for guiding discussion section or lecture planning).
Describe a specific lecture/discussion activity or homework assignment for a computing course that engages students in metacognitive assessment.
Create a rubric to support the efficient, fair, and replicable grading of a homework assignment or exam question.
Observe and critique someone else’s lecture with regard to student learning.
Put into practice core boardwork, organizational, and speaking practices to support effective explanations of computing topics.
Identify behaviors, attitudes, and situations that can lead to a less-than-inclusive environment for different students, and take proactive steps to prevent or remediate such behaviors, attitudes, and situations on an ongoing basis in their classrooms and in other forms of engaging with students, such as email or online question forums.
Identify and use inclusive terminology and language in both classroom settings and course materials.
Recognize the presence and effects of microaggressions, implicit bias, and other factors that can alienate students, and take specific steps in classroom conduct, team/group formation, and student interaction to combat these factors.

Teaching Techniques for Computer Science (Spring 2022)