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The Computer Science for Fun Project: Teacher Feedback about talks

From December 2010 to December 2012 we conducted a survey of teachers who had organised talks we gave at their school. 30 teachers responded about 9 different talks given by 4 different presenters. Between them the talks covered students from Years 7 to 13. 27 percent were to male only audiences, 20 percent were to female only audiences and 53 percent to mixed audiences. 54 percent were to state schools and 46 percent to independent schools. 56 percent were selective and 44 percent non-selective.

  • 83 percent of teachers surveyed said the talk was very good (the highest rating). All were positive (on the 5 point scale).
  • 100 percent of teachers surveyed after we had visited their school said the talk had met their needs.
  • 100 percent of teachers surveyed after we had visited their school said they would recommend us to other teachers.
  • 100 percent agreed the students enjoyed the lecture.
  • 100 percent agreed the students found the lecture interesting.
  • 100 percent agreed the lecture had improved the understanding of the students of the subject.
  • 83 percent agreed that some students have changed their view of computer science in a positive way.
  • 71 percent agreed or strongly agreed that as a result of the lecture one or more students is now more likely to consider taking COMPUTING subjects further at SCHOOL. 25 percent strongly agreed. None disagreed.
  • 58 percent agreed or strongly agreed that as a result of the lecture one or more students is now more likely to consider taking SCIENCE, ENGINEERING or MATHS further at SCHOOL. 25 percent strongly agreed. None disagreed.
  • 79 percent agreed or strongly agreed that as a result of the lecture one or more students is now more likely to consider taking COMPUTER SCIENCE at UNIVERSITY. 29 percent strongly agreed. Only one teacher disagreed.
  • 69 percent agreed or strongly agreed that as a result of the lecture one or more students is now more likely to consider pursuing SCIENCE, ENGINEERING or MATHS at UNIVERSITY. 17 percent strongly agreed. Only one teacher disagreed.

What did teachers think were the best things about the talk?

  • "Aimed at the right level for the students Very interesting examples to support the lecture"
  • "A unique way of grabbing the attention of the students and allowing them to learn without them realising it."
  • "Visiting academic. Engaging, Freebies for kids"
  • "The year 8 students enjoyed the noughts and crosses activity, the cleverbot video and the examples of artificial intelligence in everyday life"
  • "It was very accessible- and extremely slick in the way it was put together."
  • "The lecture was fast-paced, dynamic and really challenged the students. They engaged with it very well and several remained behind to ask questions afterwards. This was a very appealing way to promote the study of ICT."
  • "[The lecturer's] delivery was excellent. He engaged his audience throughout. He made quite complex concepts accessible to our weakest students."
  • "The start was a good introduction to the overall origins and theory - but the best bit really came with the interactive demonstrations and real-life modelling of computer functionality."
  • "Just right level. Lecturer very sensitive to audience. Lecturer gained involvement of students."
  • "Getting the students involved with activities such as building a brain. Opening the students minds to new cocnepts and new ways of thinking."
  • "The mix of talking, video and practical examples."
  • "Video animations + the noughts and crosses game + big [sic] blue went down well"
  • "The more interactive parts of the lecture - where pupils could calculate and get more involved"
  • "Practical hands on activities really engaged students - starting talk with 20Q which some had seen before, sweet computer to help build understanding of computer learning - and emphasis on drawing out students' own ideas"
  • "The tasks/activities which the students undertook. These were very enjoyable and made their points well."
  • "The lecture was well presented, relevant and made the students aware of many interesting issues."
  • "The content actually matched the syllabus so students found it very relevant"
  • "It was an exciting and fun approach to Computing and all the tricks worked (obviously)! [The lecturer] was on time and very kind and entertaining to the pupils. They were all thoroughly engaged! It was very interactive for everybody which was fantastic!"
  • "The lecture was spot on for the age and enthusiasm of the audience. The pace was varied and the audience were involved."
  • "[The lecturer] had a lovely style of delivery and managed to persuade a quiet and slightly shy group of girls to take a full part and really enjoy the process. I did not fill in the part about having changed the student's choice of subjects as they have already made their choices but the girls did say that next year we should involve the year 12s as some of the students in this session wished that they had known how interesting the subject could be! The squishy brains were a good incentive to volunteer!"
  • "Enthusiastic, interesting, relevant, stimulating, overall an excellent lecture. Really really pleased with it, definitely going to ask for another one next year."
  • "Just the fact that it opened their eyes to computing being something that they should consider."
  • "Interactivity!"
  • "Interaction with students, varied approach to delivering message, confident delivery, pitched correctly, interesting and relevant"
  • "Student comments: Involvement of the audience Not just talking at you but showing you something as well Use of practical items to talk about computing"
  • "Computer/user reliability, medical content and of course the maths in the tricks!"
  • "The lecturer was able to engage the students with practical examples how computer science is used. Good delivery and he also used student participation. Students are still talking about!"
  • "This is an innovative way of bringing course content to life through a presentation. Schools I am sure would welcome this approach from other university departments. This is much more interesting than departmental presentations about entry requirements and course content. With this approach students become inspired to look at a new area of potential study. In school we are constantly trying to broaden the students' understanding and appreaciation of the many routes they can take into higher education. The computer science talk model is the best way I have come across so far."
  • ["The lecturer's] interaction with the students. He pitched the lecture to the students at the right level. After the lecture, one member of staff, said that his teaching method was inspiring."

Open feedback

  • "Please can I organise another one for the school!!"
  • "I look forward to arranging other lectures for our girls [...]"
  • "We were delighted with the session and hope that [cs4fn] will be willing to come back and talk to our students again in the future. I am sorting the Sixth Form options for next academic year at the moment and there has been an explosion of interest in ICT (this year 2 students taking AS ICT; next year 12!), so his lectures are becoming ever more important to our students."
  • "It was great to have a member of a university speaking in school. It is so good you run this outreach programme - but I had to search quite hard to find it. As school teachers we spend our days preparing our (fee paying) students for the "next step" so it was very helpful for everyone to meet someone who works at this level. The students were keen to ask questions about computing at uni both at the time and afterwards. I certainly hope Queen Mary will come and deliver another talk - I note you have many interesting topics on offer. Very many thanks for an excellent session."
  • "If possible, how can I find out about all the lecturers and people that might be able to come to our school to deliver such talks? We're really interested in how technology and computing can relate to real-life relevant skills - especially the cool ones like making games and music!"
  • "very well done!"
  • "Thanks again for coming down and talking with our students."
  • "Thanks for a very enjoyable and interesting afternoon!"
  • "A very good lecture which I would like to be repeated again in the future. [The speaker] was very knowlegable and enthusiastic, gave the students and myself a lot to think about."
  • "[The speaker] had a captive audience who responded very well to his presentation."
  • "Thank you for speaking to our students the 5 schools involved all found it very useful."
  • "Thank you very much. The students were thrilled to have you, the school was thrilled to have you and for what its worth, I think you did an amazing job and really got to the core of enrichment."
  • "Please come again!"
  • "Such a shame that more pupils did not attend... Would love to have more of the same in the future"
  • "Pitched at the right level for the audience and good content students were very enthusiastic afterwards. Schools need to ensure students attend this type of talk in the lower 6th before they have made their ucas choices Some of our better upper 6th students who have elected to study electrical engineering feel it would have influenced their choice of course"