Introduction to digital Computer programming an IPI approach

The first course in Computer Science is often one of the most difficult to teach. A large number of students enroll, many with widely different aptitudes and backgrounds, so that the traditional lecture/presentation techniques aimed at the average miss the majority. A number of alternates have been proposed to overcome this problem. One of these is Individually Prescribed Instruction (I P I). Using I P I, the course material is initially partitioned into a number of discrete units and given to a student one unit at a time. The student reviews the material contained in the unit and then takes a written “assessment” to gage his mastery of the concepts. The assessment is evaluated immediately and if the student was successful the next unit is given, otherwise he simply “recycles” the material. By this means the student can progress at his own pace. The material in this course has been broken down into seven units. In addition to the written material, the student has access to student tutors, faculty instructors and video taped teaching aids. This paper reviews the organization, construction and experience with using the I P I approach over the past two years. Results to date indicate that this method can be highly successful, if administered to a proper subset of the student population.