PythonSneks: An Open-Source, Instructionally-Designed Introductory Curriculum with Action-Design Research

Rising enrollments and limited instructor resources underscores the growing need for reusable, scalable curriculum. In this paper, we describe an open-source introductory Python course for non-Computer Science majors in STEM, designed following best practices of Instructional Design (a process similar to Software Engineering). The created resources include 234 learning objectives, 51 lesson videos, 45 lecture slides, 170 programming problems, 281 quiz questions, 6 unit tested projects, and 4 ethical prompts. A teaching field guide has also been produced as a result of this effort, documenting how to deploy this curriculum on a daily level. We describe our experiences deploying over two semesters. The course serviced over 500 students, with 100s in some sections. Along the way, two interventions were conducted in an Action Design Research style: one using Worked Examples, and another using Structured Small Groups. We report on the mixed results of these experiments, plus evaluations of the assignments from student surveys and statistical measures of item effectiveness. Finally, we describe lessons learned when following Instructional Design processes.

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