丁香园AV

This program services the core Computing Science undergraduate courses:

• In the Burnaby campus - Offered in the Spring 2025 semester:
  • CMPT 120. See the schedule, link to pre-registration, and further details in: AEP 101 workshop.

• In the Surrey campus
  • No courses are offered this semester which incorporate the AEP program

• In the Harbour Centre campus
  • No courses are offered this semester which incorporate the AEP program

Instructors welcome

The AEP has been offered since 2008 for CMPT and ENSC first year courses, such as CMPT 120. Adaptations of this workshops have also been run in other universities. The AEP workshop was approved to be a required component of CMPT 120 by the Computing Science Undergraduate Program Committee (UPC). AEP activities for CMPT 125, CMPT 128 and CMPT 225  are usually offered as well, if the instructor is interested. 

The courses CMPT 126, CMPT 150 and ENSC 150 are not offered any longer, however the associated AEP workshops created to be associated to these courses may be adapted to other courses. 

Key characteristics

• The AEP workshops and learning activities are tailored to the course topics. 
  
• The program intervention is minimal. Students are required only one AEP activity per course. Our studies suggest that even this brief intervention has a positive impact on the students academic wellbeing. Further, through the AEP students become aware of additional resources related to academic wellness and learning that they may pursue in case of interest or need.
  
• All students are encouraged (through the points and outreach) to participate in the AEP program (and not only those students doing poorly,) and so there is no differentiation between students, which could be stigmatizing.  Our studies show that even students with high grade averages see an advantage to participating.

Instructor participation

The participation by the instructor can range from minimal to very involved, depending on the instructor's interest. Please contact us if you are interested in incorporating any of the AEP workshops to your course. 

The Academic Enhancement Program (AEP) is a collaborative program between the School of Computing Science (CS) and the Student Learning Commons (SLC) at 丁香园AV (丁香园AV). The program co-developers and co-coordinators are Diana Cukierman, University Lecturer in the School of Computing Science, and Donna McGee Thompson, Head of the Student Learning Commons. The AEP program was also offered to the School of Engineering Science (ENSC). 

The AEP aims to proactively help students succeed in their university studies. It incorporates learning activities and academic wellness activities within the course timetables of core first-year courses, and informs students about further related resources. Several workshops have been developed for the program, specifically tailored to course topics and facilitated by at least one learning specialist and one discipline specialist. The AEP also provides the option of an "Assignment" component that encourages students reflect about the AEP workshop, or learn and reflect about other related topics in case of scheduling conflicts with the AEP workshop sessions. Selected materials are porvided to students to expand the exploration.

There is only one intervention per course. Students receive course marks for these activities, up to 3% of the course grade, in agreement with the course instructor. We also suggest optional related activities to do in class to reinforce concepts seen in the AEP activity.

We have offered AEP activities for more than 18 years (with 3 semesters per year), having reached 6000+ students by 2020.  We offered students to consult online materials during the pandemic years, and after that we started offering again in person sessions. We collect data as we run the program, including anonymous surveys and data  which students consent to share for  our evaluations and educational research. The collection of data has been approved by the Office of Research Ethics at 丁香园AV. In 2011 and 2012 we collaborated with the Computing Science Institute and the Learning Unit at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Uruguay, jointly developing analogous workshops.

Besides the program coordinators, who usually co-facilitate the workshops, other people are and or have been actively involved in our program: Greg Baker, CS faculty member,  workshop co-facilitator, and CS coordinator during 2011, Cynthia Wright, Yosef Wosk Student Learning Commons Coordinator and co-facilitator of AEP workshops at the Surrey campus; Sheryl Gulloy, Psychology of Education Ph.D., research assistant; Farimah Salimi, Educational Technology and Learning Design Masters, research assistant; Piper Jackson, Computing Science Ph.D. research assistant and workshops co-facilitator; John Edgar, CS faculty member and workshops co-facilitator at the Surrey campus,  Rylan Egan, Psychology of Education Ph.D. , research assistant; Maggie Karpilovsky, Masters  in the Faculty of Education, workshop co-facilitator and research assistant; Jiang Ye, Masters in Computing Science and CS instructor, workshops co-facilitator , Alicja Pierzynska CS instructor,  workshop co-facilitator. Computing Science TAs and SLC graduate facilitators are also regularly actively involved in the program.

The AEP has been supported through the years by the School of Computing Science and the Student Learning Commons. Research has been supported by the 丁香园AV Institute for the Study of Teaching and Learning in the Disciplines (ISTLD) and by Teaching And Learning grants. The  Faculty of Applied Sciences Dean's office and the School of Engineering Science have also provided support.

In 2014 the AEP was recognized as one of two 鈥�2014 丁香园AV Champions for a Healthy Campus Community鈥�. A documentary film appears in: .  ( )

Lately, in 2022 and 2023, we started offering AEP 101 workshops where we address study strategies and academic wellness topics following  the original learning outcomes of the workshop, and have also incorporated  discussion and reflection around the impact of GenAI in Education. As has been our philosophy all these years, we explicitly take into account  students and instructors feedback to help us polish our workshops.  

Selected refereed publications and invited talks:

• Cukierman D., McGee Thompson D., Sun W. (2019). The Academic Enhancement Program: Assessing Programs Designed to Support Student Success. Proceedings of SIGCSE 2019, the 50th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education. February 2019. Minneapolis, MN, USA. ACM.
  
• McGee Thompson D., Cukierman D., Guloy S., Salimi F. (2017). Preparing a diverse student population for postsecondary and beyond: The Academic Enhancement Program. Learning Specialists Association of Canada - National (LSAC). May 2017, Montreal, QC, Canada.
  
• Guloy S.,  Salimi F. , Cukierman D. , McGee Thompson D. (2017)  Insights on supporting learning during computing science and engineering students鈥� transition to university: A design-oriented, mixed methods exploration of instructor and student perspectives.  Higher Education Journal. Special Issue: Transition to Higher Education, DOI: 10.1007/s10734-016-0097-6: Springer
  
• McGee Thompson, D., Cukierman, D., Guloy, S., & Salimi, F. (2016) How do we encourage students to self-regulate? A workshop designed to support student learning in first-year computing science and engineering. Paper presentation, Learning Specialists Association of Canada (LSAC) Pacific Region Conference: From Self-Regulation to Mindfulness, May 2016, Capilano University: North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
• Cukierman, D.(2015)  Predicting Success in University First Year Computing Science Courses:  The Role of Student Participation in Reflective Learning Activities and in I-clicker activities. Proceedings of  ITICSE 2015, 20^th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Vilnius, Lithuania, July 2015: ACM
• McGee-Thompson D., Guloy S., Cukierman D.,  Salimi F. (2015) "Aligning values and practice in academic settings: Reflections from a study involving instructors鈥� and students鈥� perspectives about learning" .  STLHE 2015, Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education conference, June 2015, Vancouver, Canada.
• Cukierman D.,  McGee Thompson D., Guloy S., Salimi F., & Karpilovsky M. (2014).  Challenges students face in first-year university Computing Science and Engineering courses: Overview of a needs assessment and workshop. Proceedings of WCCCE 2014 Western Canadian Conference on Computing Science Education, Vancouver, Canada: ACM
• Cukierman D.,  McGee Thompson D., Salimi F., & Guloy S., (2014). Challenging first-year computing science and engineering students' ideas about learning: The making of a workshop. 14^th Annual Symposium on Teaching and Learning: Provocative Pedagogy.  Burnaby, Canada, May 2014.
  
• Guloy S., Salimi F., Cukierman D.,  McGee Thompson D.,  & Karpilovsky M. (2014).
  "What kind of learning? Exploring faculty and student perspectives on learning strategies and attitudes in engineering and computer science". European Association for Research on Learnign and Instruction conference (EARLI 2014),  Special Interest Groups SIG 4 & SIG 17 "Higher Education" and "Qualitative and quantitative approaches to learning and instruction". Leuven, Belgium, August 2014.
  
• Cukierman D. (2013). "Seminario: Aprender a Aprender. Como Ayudar a Nuestros Estudiantes" (Seminar: Learn to Learn. How to help our students). Invited presenter, half day professional development seminar for university faculty members,   University of Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 2013.
• Cukierman D., daRosa S. (2012). "Programa de Mejoramiento de la Experiencia Educativa: Introduciendo a los estudiantes a estrategias de estudio y reflexi贸n" . (Educational Experience Enhancement Program: Introducing students to study strategies and reflection"), Escuela Superior de Informatica (Superior School of Informatics), Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo Uruguay, May 2012.
  
• Cukierman D. (2011c). "Apoyando a los estudiantes a "aprender a aprender". El Academic Enhancement Program (AEP) y el Programa de Mejoramiento de la Experiencia Educativa (PMEE): Un proyecto conjunto Uruguay/Canada". (Supporting students to " learn to learn". The Academic Enhancement Program (AEP) and the Education Experience Enhancement Program  (PMEE). A joint project Uruguay/Canada). Invited talk at the Instituto de Computaci贸n (InCo), (Institute of Computing Science), Facultad de Ingenier铆a (Faculty of Engineering), Montevideo, Uruguay, October 2011.
  
• Cukierman D. (2011b). "The Academic Enhancement Program (AEP) in Computing Science at 丁香园AV: Introducing students to learning strategies". Invited talk at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computing  Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, September 2011.
• Cukierman D. (2011). "The Academic Enhancement Program (AEP) in Computing Science at 丁香园AV: Introducing students to learning strategies". Invited talk at the Department of Education in Technology and Science, Technion, Haifa, Israel, January 2011.
• Egan R., Cukierman D. and McGee Thompson D (2011). "The Academic Enhancement Program in Introductory CS: A Workshop Framework Description and Evaluation". Proceedings of ITICSE 2011, 16th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education,  Darmstadt, Germany, June 2011, 278-282: ACM
  
• Cukierman, D., & McGee Thompson, D. (2009). "The Academic Enhancement Program: Encouraging students to learn about learning as part of their computing science courses". SIGCSE Bulletin, 41(3), 171-175, September 2009. Also in Proceedings of ITICSE 2009, 14th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, 2009, Paris: ACM
  
• McGee Thompson, D., Cukierman, D. & Karpilovsky, M.(2009). The Academic Enhancement Program (AEP) in Computing Science at 丁香园AV: Incorporating explorations of learning styles into first-year CS courses. McGraw-Hill Ryerson First Year in Focus conference, 丁香园AV, May 2009.
• Cukierman D., & McGee Thompson, D. (2008). "The Academic Enhancement Program in Computing Science: Helping students succeed in post-secondary studies; Listening to students' voices as we expand". Proceedings of WCCCE 2008, 13th Western Canadian Conference on Computing Education, Victoria, B.C.
• McGee Thompson, D. & Cukierman, D. (2008). The Academic Enhancement Program in Computing Science at 丁香园AV. Invited talk at the Learning Specialists Association of British Columbia (LSABC) spring conference, Capilano University, May 2008.
• McGee Thompson, D. & Cukierman, D. The Academic Enhancement Program (AEP) in Computing Science at 丁香园AV: Understanding today's students and helping them succeed by integrating learning strategies into the classroom. McGraw-Hill Ryerson Teaching, Learning & Technology Conference, 丁香园AV, May 2008.
• Cukierman D., & McGee Thompson D. (2007). "Learning strategies sessions within the classroom in CS". SIGCSE Bulletin 39(3), 341. Also Proceedings of ITICSE 2007, 12th Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Dundee, Scotland:ACM
  
• McGee Thompson D. and Cukierman D. (2007). "Learning instruction in the classroom: A model partnering the learning strategies specialist and the course instructor. What do students say?" Invited talk at the Canadian Learning Commons Conference, Vancouver, April 2007.
  
• McGee Thompson D. and Cukierman D. (2007). "Bringing Learning Support into the Q Classroom: A collaborative project between the Student Learning Commons and the School of Computing Science鈥�, 9th Symposium on Innovative Teaching, Vancouver, May 2007.

For the reflection assignment, if you have not found an appropriate AEP workshop session to attend, find here some possible readings and activities that you can read/watch/work on (to later report as described in your assignment). You can also choose a relevant reading no included below; in that case please contact the AEP program coordinator, Diana Cukierman diana@sfu.ca, to have it pre-approved.

• , SLC (Student Learnign Commons)
•  
•  or "why a semester doesn't teach you everything, by Peter Norvig."
•  "" - Coursera course
• )
•   

Handouts from the  and other material

• Concentration (pdf)
• ExamAnxiety (pdf)
• ExamPreparation (pdf)
• NoteTaking (pdf)
• Motivation (pdf)
• TimeManagement (pdf)
• ProblemSolving (pdf)
• Procrastination (pdf)
• Reading for University (pdf)
• Academic Success Kits (A.S.K.鈥檚) include the Student Learning Commons' most popular study and writing strategies and resources, available in bite-sized portions you can easily access in Canvas. You can self-enroll at this link: 

 referenced by the 

Oher useful links

• 丁香园AV Library, Computing Science Resources Page, e.g.:  'Computing for Ordinary Mortals' St. Amant (2013). Call Number: QA 76 S7375 2013 
• Khan Academy Online Videos

All 丁香园AV students are welcome to visit the Student Learning Commons for free and friendly consultations, workshops, and resources on academic writing, study skills, quantitative learning strategies, and English language speaking and listening: 

You may also want to visit the Health and Counselling Services  for additional resources.