Joe Michael Allen, Ph.D. Department of Computer Science and Engineering University of California, Riverside, CA 92521 jalle010@ucr.edu LinkedIn | Resume (Jan. 2018) | CV (Jan. 2018)

• Ph.D. 2016-2021, Computer Science, University of California, Riverside (Advisor: Frank Vahid)
• M.S. 2015-2016, Computer Engineering, University of California, Riverside
• B.S. 2011-2015, Computer Engineering, University of California, Riverside

STEM Education - Many Small Programs (MSPs)

Traditionally, many CS1 courses assign students one large programming assignment (OLPs) each week to teach programming. We use a different approach: many small programs (MSPs). MSPs offer a unique way to assign programming assignments to students that involves assigning multiple smaller programming assignments instead of one large programming assignment each week.

STEM Education - Serious Games

Education research emphasizes the importance of repetition for skills mastery. I am developing engaging web-based math and computer science games specifically designed to help students build mastery of core skills. Each game is uniquely created to inherently teach the specific concept. Click here to see the games that have been created.

• Programming Workflow Analysis
  Insight on how students work on programming assignments is invaluable to instructors. With proper data, instructors can better understand how students work on and complete programming assignments for the class. This tool helps instructors gain insight into student workflow on programming assignments (lab activities) given a log file of class activity for a given assignment (most effective for a Many Small Programs (MSP) teaching approach, but can also be used for an One Large Programming (OLP) teaching approach).
• Zoom Chat Log Analysis
  We know many classes are being run online. Having students participate via chat is an effective way to run an online class. This tool helps instructors gain insight into class behavior by analyzing zoom chat logs.

Journal and Conference publications

• F. Vahid, S. Zhao, and J.M. Allen. Automated Zoom Chat Analysis Including Chat-Based Polls for an Online Introductory Programming Course, Proceedings of ASEE Annual Conference, 2022. [paper] [pdf]
• J.M. Allen. A Many Small Programs (MSP) Approach in a CS1 Course, Ph.D. Dissertaion at the University of California, Riverside, 2021. [paper] [pdf] [slides]
• J.M. Allen and F. Vahid. An Analysis of Using Coral Many Small Programs in CS1, Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 2021. [paper] [pdf] [slides]
• J.M. Allen and F. Vahid. Concise Graphical Representations of Student Effort on Weekly Many Small Programs, ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 2021. [paper] [pdf] [slides] [video]
• F. Vahid, J.M. Allen, A. D. Edgcomb, and R. Lysecky. Using the free Coral language and simulator to simplify first-year programming courses, Proceedings of FYEE Annual Conference, 2020. [paper] [pdf]
• F. Vahid and J.M. Allen. An online course for freshmen? The evolution of a successful online CS1 course, Proceedings of FYEE Annual Conference, 2020. [paper] [pdf]
• J.M. Allen and F. Vahid. Teaching Coral before C++ in a CS1 Course, Proceedings of ASEE Annual Conference, 2020. [paper] [pdf] [slides]
• J.M. Allen and F. Vahid. Analyzing Pivoting Among Weekly Many Small Programs in a CS1 Course, Proceedings of ASEE Annual Conference, 2020. [paper] [pdf] [slides]
• J.M. Allen and F. Vahid. Experiences in Developing a Robust Popular Online CS1 Course for the Past 7 Years, Proceedings of ASEE Annual Conference, 2020. [paper] [pdf] [slides]
• J.M. Allen, F. Vahid, K. Downey, K. Miller, and A. Edgcomb. Many Small Programs in CS1: Usage Analysis from Multiple Universities, Proceedings of ASEE Annual Conference, 2019. [paper] [pdf] [slides]
• J.M. Allen, F. Vahid, A. Edgcomb, K. Downey, and K. Miller. An Analysis of Using Many Small Programs in CS1, ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 2019. [paper] [pdf] [slides]
• J.M. Allen, F. Vahid, K. Downey, and A. Edgcomb. Weekly Programs in a CS1 Class: Experiences with Auto-graded Many-small Programs (MSP), Proceedings of ASEE Annual Conference, 2018. [paper] [pdf] [slides] (best paper nominee)
• J.M. Allen, F. Vahid, S. Salehain, and A. Edgcomb. Serious games for building skills in computing and engineering, Proceedings of ASEE Annual Conference, 2017. [paper] [pdf] [slides]
• F. Vahid, J.M. Allen, and A. Edgcomb. Web-based games to master core skills in introductory college mathematics, Joint Mathematics Meetings, 2017, abstract. [abstract] [pdf] [slides]

Talks not associated with publications

• J.M. Allen. A Many Small Programs (MSP) Approach in a CS1 Course, Dissertation Proposal Defense, 2020 [slides]
• J.M. Allen. Weekly Programs in CS1: Experiences with Many Small Auto-Graded Programs, Oral Qualification, 2019 [slides]
• J.M. Allen, F. Vahid, K. Downey, and A. Edgcomb. Weekly Programs in CS 1: Experiences with Many-Small Auto-Graded Programs, UCR Symposium, 2018. [pdf] [slides]
• C. Ortiz-Ortiz and J.M. Allen. Spanish Family Orientation Programs Roundtable Discussion, NODA Annual Conference, 2015. [slides]

Teaching Assistant

CS010 (UCR) - Introduction to Computer Science for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering I. [Sp2017][Sp2018][W2019][F2019][W2020][Sp2020]

Programming Workflow Charts

• CS10A online Spring 2017: Week 1 -- Week 2 -- Week 3 -- Week 4 -- Week 5 -- Week 6 -- Week 7 -- Week 8 -- Week 9
• CS10A online Fall 2020: Week 1 -- Week 2 -- Week 3 -- Week 4 -- Week 5
• CS10 Spring 2019
• CS10 Winter 2020
• CS12 Spring 2019