Talk given on Sep 17, 2015 at NTNU, Trondheim, Norway

1. Extreme Apprenticeship:
Experiences and lessons learned
Gabriella Dodero
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
Trondheim, 17 sep 2015

2. Contents
● Extreme Apprenticeship principles
● Extreme Apprenticeship @ universities
● … @ high schools
● Lessons learned

3. Motivation
● Computer Science is a curricular subject @ university,
and @ high schools (in Italy)
● Many students find it tough !!!
● Low marks, drop-outs, low retention of concepts once
the exam is passed
● Typical courses start with „theory“ and after a while,
„labs“ can start
● Can we improve on this ?

4. Extreme Apprenticeship
● Based on Cognitive Apprenticeship: pay attention to
the learning process
● Learning as apprentices in a workshop, under the
guidance of a „master“, until a skill is acquired
● Traditional examples are craftsmen (tailor, cobbler,
painter...) to learn manual skills
● It works also for cognitive skills !
● Three phases:
● Modeling, scaffolding, fading.

5. Modeling
● The apprentice acquires a conceptual modeling of the
activity, by observing the „master“ at work !
● Lectures, if needed, consist on worked examples, (but
they are usually avoided)
● The „master“ thinks aloud to show what mental
processes are activated

6. Scaffolding
● Apprentices solve exercises while the master is
watching them. If they are stuck, they ask for help
● The master does not give solutions, just enough hints
to let apprentices discover the solution by themselves
● … as suggested by Bruner

7. Fading
● As the apprentices start working independently,
scaffolding gradually decreases
● The more the apprentices work independently,
the more their skills grow

8. XA and exercises
● Exercises are NOT „applications of a theory“
● Roumani considers exercises:
● We think of them as teaching instruments that
complement lectures by teaching the same
material but in an exploratory fashion
● Exercises are the key to increase students'
motivation

9. XA and motivation
● Intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation
● Difficult exercises kill the intrinsic motivation of weaker
students
● Exercises should be proposed as „challenges“, and
should be short-term, reachable goals for all
apprentices
● Feedback from the master increases motivation
● Self-esteem and self-efficacy increase motivation

10. Basic XA principles
(1) Learning by doing. A skill is acquired by practicing it,
as long as it is needed
(2) Continuous bidirectional feedback. Apprentices
receive a feedback on their work, the master receives
a feedback by observing how the apprentice works

11. XA @ Helsinki
● Reducing-cancelling lecture hours
● Programming: one hour for course introduction
● Maths: two hours a week to recap exercises
● Increasing lab hours, and increasing lab assistants
● Correcting EVERYTHING ! Allowing to redo wrong
exercises (obliging to redo wrong exercises)

12. Pass rates of Programming @
Helsinki
● Programming course
for computer
scientists
● Programming course
for non- computer
scientists
Traditional XA
58.5% 71.3%
Traditional XA
43.7% 70.1%

13. Bolzano: Operating systems
● Bsc, 3. semester, approx 30 students/year
● Assessment: theory (50%) as written exam; lab (50%) as
a project
● The first part of the lab (2 ECTS) has been given as XA for
three courses (2011 - 2013)
● Lab topics: bash scripting

14. Pre self assessment
● Some students knew bash scripting since high school
● Many students did not know the command line ...

15. Lab
● The teacher is (alone) 6 hours/week in the lab
Impossible to assess in real time what students
deliver
● Blended lab: exercises may be done at home, and
may be delivered on a LMS (Moodle)
The teacher grades them and gives a feedback
via email

16. Feedback
● Moodle automatically informs the student that a grade
has been given
● The student reads the grade and the teacher's
comment
● If the exercise is wrong, the comment explains the
mistake without giving the solution
● If the exercise is correct, the comment is a smiley or
an „ok!“
● Each student sees only own grades and comments

17. Grades @ Bolzano
● More students passed at first call (out of three)
● „Traditional“ indicates the total of three cohorts before
the first XA edition (101 students)
● After three editions, no more „dropouts“ ...
Traditional % XA %
33 33% 22 52%

18. Lessons learned @ unibz
● XA works, both in presence and blended
● Students work more, and are happy of that
● Students respect deadlines, and know that they have
learned
● Drop-outs of previous years take the course and pass
the exam
● Those who drop, are NOT desperate ...

19. Students post questionnaire
● 1: Self-efficacy: I
know how to write
bash scripts
● 2: Exercises helped in
understanding OS
theory
● 3: Lab required too
much time

20. Students comments
● A student that initially self assessed as „poor“:
This is new way of teaching. It is very interesting. I didn't
expected from myself, that without any knowledge about
bash and without any lectures, it is possible to learn so
much!
● A student that initially self assessed as
„knowledgeable“:
writing a shell [a complex take-home activity] would have
been interesting, but anyway writing this script was a nice
experience

21. XA @ schools
● Pilot experience 2 years ago, in a „professional“
school (12th grade), technician of enterprise
services
● Javascript programming (usually it was not part
of the curriculum)
● Students react enthusiastically, half of them
want to become programmers
● Let's train in-service CS teachers in high
schools !!

22. What was done and where
● Computer Science and Math teacherss in high
schools
● Teachers from Trento and Bolzano (and one
from Verona)
● In-service in various high schools and years,
including evening courses for working students
● Teaching to teenagers
● Teaching to adults 50+

23. What was taught with XA
● Digital literacy (word processor, spreadsheet)
● Programming in Pascal, python, scratch
● HTML, CSS, javascript
● Linux CLI + bash scripting
● Algebraic expressions, fractions,...

24. Key rules
● Correcting (almost) every exercise
● Concluding at home and elivering later
(via email, on a LMS, on a usb stick...)
● Scaffolding, that is never tell the solution, just a hint to
spot the error
● Working a lot without realizing
● Learning and being aware of learning (students and
teachers)
www.mycutegraphics.com

25. Open issues
● How can large classes be managed by one teacher alone?
● Does peer tutoring work between students of the same
class?
● Does peer tutoring work between students of different
years?
● What happens when students refuse to work at home?
ww.mycutegraphics.com

26. Nice surprises
● „Professor, please do no lecture any more with
the textbook!“
● „Students are too silent.. are they hacking?“
● WOOOOWWWW!!!!!!
● The teacher of literature starts,
too
● Parents understand „how much“
the children learn
●
www.mycutegraphics.com

27. More on XA
● E3osvideos: youtube channel providing „open
educational resources“ on Linux + bash
● OS 2015-16: a new „format“....
Fig. 5. A video screen-shot showing: (1) the teacher-avatar addressing the learning goal,
(2) with a discovery element for engaging, (3) the iconic representation of a terminal and
folders for favoring recognition rather recall

28. Credits
● RAGE webpage:http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/en/rage/
● OS Collaborators: F.Di Cerbo, N.El Ioini, V.Del Fatto,
F.Persia
● Co-authors of papers : R.Gennari, F.Ravanelli, N.
Mastachi, and a dozen of teachers
● Interdisciplinary collaboration: University of Verona (psy)

29. Takk, Grazie, Danke, Thanks, Kiitos!!
gdodero @ unibz . it