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I said this class was an experiment. And we have some initial results, which are leading me to need to make some “course corrections.”

Short version:

Don’t worry about peer review for now, and be on the lookout for a change to the class schedule (different assignments due on different dates).

First: The peer review experiment was a bit of a fiasco (with Canvas neither working as advertised and not doing what I wanted even if it wasn’t buggy). So, if you do the first peer review great, if not, don’t worry about. I need to re-think how we do this.

Second: I am realizing that I need to change the order of topics. We need to learn how to do stuff (like manipulate a web page) so we can write programs that are more interesting and we can see examples that are more realistic. So: the order of the topics and readings will change.

Third: I realize that looking at the little code examples in class (the style of the past 3 lectures) has some problems. You probably need to try out these concepts in order to really get them. And, you need to see them in context to really understand why you should care about them. So… I plan to give you some little programming things to do that will let you try out these ideas, in addition to having to write some bigger programs to try it in context.

It will take me a few days to re-configure class. And hopefully get some answers from Canvas support so we can try peer review again.

Some people have told me of problems with peer review on Canvas.

It seems it works for some people (judging from the fact that there are successful reviews in the system), but not others.

I’ve created a discussion thread so we can gather feedback on the Canvas peer review mechanisms and get help from the Canvas staff. https://wisc.instructure.com/courses/167/discussion_topics/1174

If you have a problem and are unable to do your reviews, please explain on the discussion.

If you were able to make it work and have some ideas on how to improve it, please explain it on the discussion.

Thanks for your patience and feedback with this.

Sorry for all the confusion with peer reviews. I am still trying to figure out what Canvas does – since I can’t try it out without, well, trying it out.

One confusion: I set the “Assign Reviews” date to today, thinking that would be the day it sent out the assignments for review. Of course, it didn’t. It sent out the assignments at the time the assignment was due. And the “Assign Reviews” date it took as the date that the reviews were due.

Anyway, I changed it so that the reviews are due Monday.

I don’t know what happens if you turned in your assignment late. If someone did turn in their assignment late, can you please let me know – did it give you things to review? Did it assign reviewers to your program?

Thanks for bearing with me.

The deadline for undergraduates to switch to Pass/Fail is Friday (September 25).

It turns out that we cannot check that you have done this.

The CS Advisor Recommends:

It might be best to inform students that they should confirm the course is put on pass/fail by going to My Class Schedule in Student Center. Students should see “Pass/Fail” in the grading column.

If you don’t switch to Pass/Fail, you might be unhappy with the grade that you do receive.

With any luck, the Canvas page for Reading and Discussion 1 (for you to post your discussion) should be set. Everyone on the class roster is assigned to a group.