Configurations for teaching labs

Abstract

For decades, computing educators have discussed structured laboratory exercises as part of coursework. Often called "closed labs", formal laboratory sessions promote active learning, engage students in the material at hand, provide practice in problem solving, refine technical skills, and allow instructors to work individually with students to answer questions and facilitate learning. These lab sessions also can encourage pair programming and other collaborative activities---at least from time to time. Altogether, the advantages of closed labs are well documented; at least eighty-nine articles, published between 2010 and 1994, are indexed under "closed labs" in the ACM Digital Library. Also, different institutions have varying goals and priorities for their labs; and over the years various schools have developed guidelines and plans for their laboratory facilities (e.g., [1, 3, 4]).