Mazur is not the only one eyeing the CS50 model.We would love to see ES1 grow to gain the popularity that CS50 has achieved,says ES1 Professor Sujata K. Bhatia.But professors also acknowledge that different disciplines face unique challenges from the need for lab space to common misconceptions about their fields that complicate universal growth on the scale of CS50.
We hope we get to CS50 fame and enrollment level, says Marko Loncar, professor of ES50.On the other hand, it’s a different type of beast, he says.Everybody uses computers today in my experience, people do not know exactly what electrical engineering is today.Even as C
S50 continues to pull away from other introductory courses in enrollment figures enrollment jumped from 494 last fall its growth trends are not exclusive. Every introductory SEAS course has grown in the last two years, with ES53 doubling and ES50 nearly tripling in size.These are promising patterns for SEAS, which is constantly on the lookout for new concentrators. But as professors scramble to adjust, many look to CS50 for inspiration.CS50’s explosive growth is unprecedented in SEAS. Professors and students alike attribute the course’s success to an enthusiastic teaching staff and engaging lectures, homework assignments that are relevant to students, and a strong sense of community.In the 2010-2011 academic year, the course boasted the highest overall Q score among SEAS intro-level courses—4.23 out of 5—despite also having the highest workload rating, at 4.16 out of 5.Many students see an opportunity in CS50 to develop skills that apply directly to their lives.Matthew W. Yarri ’14 says that ES50, for example, focuses on engineering skills more commonly associated with the pre-digital era.Today, you would just buy a computer chip and program it using the type of knowledge you would have acquired in CS50,Yarri says.
In fact, the relevance of computers in today’s society may have fueled much of CS50’s allure, says Heather V. Hawkes ’13, who took CS50 and was also a teaching fellow in ES50.The technical appeal of knowing a little bit of computer science in today’s world is considerable, whereas most people can get by just fine without actually knowing how their radio works,” she says.But Loncar cautions against misconceptions about the role of electrical engineering. While he agrees that the ubiquity of computers makes computer science seem more useful, electrical engineering is actually necessary for much of the technology that excites students—from building an iPad to designing the face recognition platform that allows tagging on Facebook.
Without a computer, there is no computer science,he says.To build a computer, you need an electrical engineer.
Introductory courses offered by SEAS are meant to be accessible and welcoming to all students, regardless of background or concentration and career interests, according to Bhatia.
Really engineering is the application of quantification to solve societal problems, she says.Professors agree that CS50 in particular is effective in convincing students from a variety of concentrations that engineering can serve them well. Most professors say they hope to improve the marketing of their own classes.Last spring, ES50 introduced t-shirts for students and just this week created a Facebook page for the class.Mazur says he has already spoken extensively with David J. Malan ’99, course instructor for CS50, about the design of AP50.He’s very interested in the pedagogy that I have developed,Mazur said.I have looked at his syllabus in great detail to look at how he weaves computer science into projects.Mazur says rote memorization and textbook problems are no longer the right way to train “some of the most successful problem solvers you can think of.If you look at the way introductory physics is taught right now for non-majors, I think the syllabus is not very different from the syllabus you would have seen in the last century or so, he says. It’s time for an overhaul.
Incorporating hands-on components into SEAS courses is a universal goal, according to Malan, who was named director of Educational Innovation this year and is working to create and implement new teaching tools throughout SEAS.Bhatia, who also teaches ES53, an introductory bioengineering course, starts every lecture by presenting a clinical application of the topic at hand.How can we as bioengineers come in and help? she asks her students. She reminds them that they “are part of the
