Redesigning an Online Introduction to Programming

Learning how to program a computer is of increasing importance to students from many majors, but it is an intellectually demanding activity. San Jose State University has limited capacity in offering the “Introduction to Programming” course on campus and is unable to keep up with demand. After a largely successful experiment of offering the course as a MOOC through Udacity in Summer 2013, we are offering it as a “SPOC” (small private online course) in Spring 2014. We are adding more practice and interaction to the online course, aiming for having parity in pass rates and student success between the online and regular offering.