Reviewers' Notebook: Exit Interviews
From CSWiki
CS faculty have been conducting exit interviews with students for at least a decade. A typical exit interview form follows. Most of the questions are the same from year-to-year, although one question (question 5 below) varies depending on recent changes in the institution or department.
Typical Exit Interview Form
Before you leave Grinnell, I would like to ask you some questions about your experiences in the major. (This is an aspect of the department's self-evaluation.) The principal questions are below. I'd appreciate a chance to talk with you about them in person, so that we can discuss your experiences in some depth. In addition, you may find it helpful to write down some short notes in advance as preparation for our discussion.
1. Experiences
(a) Looking back on your experiences in the major, what did you like best?
(b) What did you like least?
2. Outcomes
(a) What did you gain from the major?
(b) What do you wish you had gained from the major?
3. Courses
(a) What courses in the major do you regard as essential to your education in computer science? Why?
(b) Were there any courses in the major that you took but wish you had not taken? If so, which ones and why?
(c) Were there any courses in computer science or in mathematics that you wish that you had taken but didn't? Which ones and why?
(d) Were there courses outside the major that you regard as essential to your education in computer science? If so, which ones and why?
4. What suggestions do you have for improving or changing our program for majors?
5. In our new location, the department will have much more space that we can use for labs that are open to students during some evening and weekend hours. Based on your experience in Science 2417 and Science 2435, what kinds of working environments should we try to create in our new lab areas? What has worked well in our current labs, and what could be improved?
6. What else would you like us to know about your experience in the major or at Grinnell?
Summary from 2000-2001
Here are some themes from a 2001 assessment report:
Response to the questionnaire is only moderate. ... Here we highlight some of the major findings.
A significant group of majors (perhaps half) seem to have a practical orientation. Their interests emphasize programming, projects, and preparation for careers. For this group, courses involving theory, mathematics, or concepts seem less relevant than courses with a significant coding component.
In contrast, another significant group (perhaps one third) particularly appreciate the theory and concepts that relate directly to topics of traditional liberal arts.
This bipartite grouping of computer science students is reasonably common in colleges nationally. To address interests of both groups, some schools, such as Allegheny College, have separate majors in Computer Science and Applied Computer Science. However, the general orientation of Grinnell's faculty and the nature of this institution suggest that we continue to emphasize the conceptual and foundational components of the discipline.
Most students regard most or all of the current courses as being extremely important and beneficial. Suggestions largely emphasize the theory/programming split of students or the need for the faculty to expand. Most suggestions seem addressable through the expansion of the computer science faculty beginning this fall. For example, the new 195 course [now established as CSC 201] will provide a pilot for resolving much of the current overlap of topics in 211 and 213.
