Computer Science 226
Algorithms and Data Structures
Fall 2014
Course Information | Lectures | Flipped | Assignments | Exercises | Exams

FLIPPED LECTURES

As an alternative to traditional lectures, we are offering a flipped lecture option, in which you watch video lectures online before class (or in some cases in class called film day) and the class time is spent on short presentations, discussions, individual and group problem solving exercises. Flipped lectures can be helpful for those who are looking for an alternative instructional strategy other than traditional lectures. If you are interested in reading about WHY FLIP YOUR CLASS click here. Flipped lectures meet in Sherred 001 on Tuesdays (film day) and Thursdays (flipped activities) from 11-12:20.
If you need to read more about flipped courses, scroll down to see more details. Below are the links to flipped activities.

# DATE TOPICS VIDEOS SLIDES QUIZ WORKSHEET
1 9/11 Union Find - (attend regular lecture - Friend 101) watchreaddoclasswork
2 9/16 Analysis of Algorithms watchreaddoclasswork
3 9/18 Stacks and Queues watchreaddoclasswork
4 9/23 Elementary Sorts watchreaddoclasswork
5 9/25 MergeSort watchreaddoclasswork
6 9/30 Quicksort watchreaddoclasswork
7 10/2 Priority Queues watchreaddoclasswork
8 10/7 Elementary Symbol Tables · BSTs watchreaddoclasswork
9 10/9 Geometric Applications of BST's watchreaddoclasswork
10 10/14 Balanced Search Trees watchreaddoclasswork
11 10/16 Hash Tables, Searching Applications watchreaddoclasswork
12 10/21 Midterm Exam watchreaddoclasswork
13 10/23 Undirected Graphs watchreaddoclasswork
14 11/4 Directed Graphs watchreaddoclasswork
15 11/6 Minimum Spanning Trees watchreaddoclasswork
16 11/11 Shortest Paths watchreaddoclasswork
17 11/13 Maximum Flow watchreaddoclasswork
18 11/18 String Sorts watchreaddoclasswork
19 11/20 Tries watchreaddoclasswork
Flipped lectures below have not yet been updated for Fall 2014
20 11/25 Substring Search watchreaddoclasswork
21 12/2 Regular Expressions watchreaddoclasswork
22 12/4 Data Compression watchreaddoclasswork
23 12/9 Reductions watchreaddoclasswork
24 12/11 TBA watchreaddoclasswork


Flipped lecture students are expected to complete the following activities prior to or in some cases during the flipped sessions:

It is important that you interact with the video as you watch. Insert comments and/or respond to instructor prompts at specific locations of the video. This is an important part of your flipped classroom experience.

To access the flipped course videos

  • Create an account at http://classroomsalon.com/main.aspx#register using the code: princeton

    • Access flipped lecture videos here

    The flipped sessions will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11AM-12:20PM in Sherrard 001. The general format of the flipped sessions is that we use tuesday as the "film day" and thursday as the flipped lecture day. This format can be changed based on our group preference.
    We will shape the flipped lecture based on your comments on classroom salon using the following structure: Flipped students attend the same precepts, do the same programming assignments, and take the same exams as students attending traditional lectures. The primary difference is that instead of sitting through two 80-minute traditional lectures per week, you will learn as much as possible from online resources (with staff guidance) and attend two 80-minute flipped sessions per week. The flipped lecture will be conducted in an open, interactive, collaborative, and engaging environment. Flipped lectures are synchronized with the regular lecture and you can switch back to regular lecture anytime. But please be aware that flipped classes often have a wait list. Please switch early so someone else can take your place.

    Why flipped lectures?   We have a rich collection of MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) videos and other supplemental material that is readily available for students in COS 226. The traditional lectures given to a large group of students is often difficult to maintain as interactive sessions. A major portion of a traditional lecture is spent on delivering facts. In a flipped classroom, we deliver factual information through videos. We dedicate the class time to discuss more conceptual questions. Research conducted by Eric Mazur at Harvard found that almost 40% of the students who pass a traditional course do not often have the skills to apply knowledge to problems that are unfamiliar. On the other hand, students who focus more on conceptual understanding perform better in long term problem-solving exercises. Here is an interesting video to watch to understand this more. The video is long. You can start from @35:00 and watch about 20-30 minutes to understand how flipped instructions can be beneficial.



    To apply.   Before applying for the flipped lecture, think carefully about your style of learning. You may be a good candidate for the flipped lecture if you

    If interested, complete this survey monkey form by 6PM Friday Sept 12, 2014. The flipped lecture is limited to 30 students. It will be mostly first come first served basis, but in some cases we may make exceptions. We will announce the results by Midnight Friday Sept 12, 2014

    Accessing Lecture videos. You will use the video and document annotation platform Classroom Salon to access and annotate the lecture videos. Each lecture video is divided into several segments, of approximately 10 minutes each. For example, analysis of algorithms is a collection of 5 short video lectures. You can always speed up the videos if you need to watch them faster. To gain access to the classroom salon platform, SIGN UP for your own account at http://classroomsalon.com using the special code: princeton
    If you have trouble signing up, email Guna (guna@cs.princeton.edu). After you create the account Join this salon to access all the course videos.

    Video annotations. As you watch the videos add location specific comments using tags to categorize them. This is an important part of your flipped learning experience. The comments you make will help you reflect on the video as well as inform us how we should conduct the flipped session. In general make about 3 comments (more is better) per lecture (across all short videos in the lecture) using some pre-defined tags.
    Here is a list (or a variation) of the most common tags:

    You may use the same tag more than once. You can make your comments anonymous if needed.

    In-video prompts. Look for special questions embedded into specific places of the video titled "local prompts". You can click on the time stamp for the comment to find the location for the local prompt. Click on the "reply" button on the comment to respond and then expand the replies to see the correct answer.

    Learn from others We learn best by observing what others do and do not do. In Classroom Salon, you will be able to see what others have commented on. Read them when you can, vote on them and reply or extend the replies as necessary. Even if you do not make any comments in a particular video, endorse other student comments so we can discuss them online or in class.