Ali Khamesy, Alina Xi Li, Diana Cukierman, Jasmine Rai, Johnson Tan, Not present in the picture: Sergii Padalka

Grant program: Teaching and Learning Development Grant Program

Grant recipient: Diana Cukierman, School of Computing Science

Project team: TBD

Timeframe: January 2019 to January 2020

Funding: $6000

Course addressed: CMPT 120 – Introduction to Computing Science and Programming

Description: A Peer Tutor Program was piloted for CMPT 120 – Introduction to Computing Science and Programming in the Fall 2018 semester. Students in this course have heterogeneous background and pursue degrees in varied disciplines. Classes are large and students may be hesitant to consult with teaching assistants or the instructor. With the Peer Tutor Program, ideally students have a more personalized learning experience and more opportunities to consult with peers, who may appear friendlier and more accessible to students, benefiting the academic experience and learning. Ideally this program provides a win-win situation for all: students, peer tutors, teaching assistants and instructors. For this project I will investigate the impact of this Peer Tutor Program on students and on the Peer Tutors, as well as collect suggestions for improvement.

Questions addressed: 

• What happened during the peer tutor sessions?
• Who attended the tutoring sessions? Why did some students not attend the tutoring sessions?
• Did the program improve the academic experience of students and their satisfaction with the course and university study in general?
• Possibly explore whether the program improved the academic experience of students and their satisfaction with the course and university study in general above and beyond the Academic Enhancement Program (AEP)?
• What are the peer tutors and students suggestions to improve the experience of peer tutoring?
• Is there any notable improvement in grades for those students who attend?
• What benefits do students perceive from the Peer Tutor experience?
• What benefits do Peer Tutor’s perceive from the Peer Tutor experience?

Knowledge sharing:

• I plan to share results with the Director, School of Computing Science and with the FAS Faculty Dean
• I plan to present my findings informally at “Teaching Conversations” that are planned be instituted for FAS faculty or similar
• I hope to submit to Computing Science education conferences (e.g. SIGCSE)
• I will be participating in a “Peer teaching summit” at SIGCSE 2019, February 2019.