October 30, 2020
Each year, over 1,000 students in COMP 110: Introduction to Programming are introduced to computer science by Teaching Professor and UNC CS alumnus Kris Jordan and his team of 45 enthusiastic Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs). Jordan and his dedicated UTA team have driven COMP 110 to become one of the most popular courses at UNC.
With the move to remote learning, Jordan quickly pivoted coursework to allow for streaming of all lectures, as well as make them freely and publicly available. Now, anyone wishing for a primer on introductory programming can access pre-recorded lessons, slides, and hands-on lab tutorials by subscribing to Jordan’s YouTube channel.
“As a student in western North Carolina, I did not have access to any programming courses at my high school. The same is true for many of my LAs who help me run the course. My hope with offering these learning experiences more broadly to the state of North Carolina is that it might spark an early interest,” stated Jordan.
Increased access to programming curriculum has been a long-time goal for Jordan.
“A small silver lining in the move to remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Jordan said, “is that it provided the impetus to make this happen.”
Guided by strategies to support increased access and opportunity in computer science, Jordan is committed to finding ways for all interested students to find their place in tech. In this truncated fall semester alone, visitors to Jordan’s YouTube channel have spent more than 10,000 hours viewing his instructional videos. For more information about the course and to access the online materials, check out Jordan’s dedicated COMP 110 site.