We present the design and implementation of an interdisciplinary service course on data journalism, a first-ever collaboration between the computer science department and college of journalism at our institution. The course covered the basics of dataset acquisition, cleaning, and analysis, and taught key programming and web development concepts. Students created an online portfolio of exercises, culminating in a news story and data visualization. The course was well received by students coming from a variety of backgrounds. We provide recommendations for future iterations of this course.

We conducted a quasi-experimental study of pair programming versus solo programming, in the context of a required, four-hour, intermediate level-course that focuses on the acquisition of a second language (C/C++). We found pair programming served as a protective factor for the retention of female students and less experienced students. Our findings support those of prior studies that suggested that pair programming may improve retention for female students and also suggest that pair programming strategies may help to shorten the long pre-requisite chain typically found in CS programs, reduce time to degree, and promote student productivity during undergraduate studies. We also found that solo programmers relied more heavily on TA assistance, which implies that resource-constrained departments might better meet student needs or handle larger groups of students with existing resources through the use of pair programming.

Large introductory-level classes provide a cost-efficient approach for universities to serve many students at once, but also present several challenges to learning (e.g., poor visual angles). In addition, more students with declared, undeclared, or undiagnosed learning disabilities are entering the college and university systems. In the spirit of universal design, we created a group note-taking system in our large introductory computer science course to increase interaction amongst students, promote good note-taking strategies, and provide study resources to all students while also fulfilling the role of accommodating for students with learning disabilities. We show that the section of the course taught with our intervention performed significantly better on their final examination compared to a course taught without the intervention. We report that students enjoyed increased interactions with their peers, and that one third of the class self-reported an increase in their note-taking skills. Furthermore, our intervention only required minimal cost to the institution, and no financial cost to students, and is easily implemented in any size class.

Relatively little is known about how the presence and location of multiple shared displays changes the performance and dynamics of teams collaborating. We conducted a case study evaluating several shared display configurations with groups collaborating on a data-intensive, sense-making task. Teams completed the same task using either a single display, side-by-side dual, or opposing dual shared displays. The location of the second shared display significantly impacted the ability for teams to make logical connections amongst the data. Users were also significantly more satisfied with the collaboration process using the side-by-side dual display condition than those using a single display.

Peripheral displays provide secondary awareness of news and information to people. When such displays are static, the amount of information that can be presented is limited and the display may become boring or routine over time. Adding animation to peripheral displays can allow them to show more information and can potentially enhance visual interest and appeal, but it may also make the display very distracting. Is it possible to employ animation for visual benefit without increasing distraction? We have created a peripheral display system called BlueGoo that visualizes R.S.S. news feeds as animated photographic collages. We present an empirical study in which participants did not find the system to be distracting, and many found it to be appealing. The study also explored how different display sizes and positions affect information conveyance and distraction. Animations on an angled second monitor appeared to be more distracting than three other configurations.