Briana Morrison
Associate Professor, Academic General Faculty, Teaching Track, Computer Science
About
Prior to joining UVA, Briana worked for IBM for 8 years as a software developer and then transitioned to academia. She was an Assistant Professor at Southern Polytechnic State University (now Kennesaw State University) for 20 years in the Computer Science department. She was the Undergraduate Coordinator for the Computer Science and Software Engineering programs, helped to found the Computer Game Design and Development degree program, and served as the lead for 2 successful ABET accreditation visits. She has a PhD in Human-Centered Computing from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a master's in Computer Science, and a bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering. She also was an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska Omaha for 5 years where she taught programming courses and classes in the Masters of Computer Science Education Program. She has served on the ACM SIGCSE Board, the ACM Education Committee, the College Board AP CSA Development Committee, and was the co-editor of EngageCSEdu. She is an ACM Distinguished Member and is currently the co-Chair of the ACM Education Board. Her research area is Computer Science Education where she explores cognitive load theory within programming, broadening participation in computing and expanding and preparing computing high school teachers.
Education
Ph.D., Human Centered Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology
M.S., Computer Science, Southern Polytechnic State University
B.S.E., cum laude, Computer Engineering, Tulane University
Research Interests
Computer Science Education
Broadening Participation in Computing
Increasing K-12 Access to Qualified Computing Teachers
Selected Publications
Reducing withdrawal and failure rates in introductory programming with subgoal labeled worked examples. International Journal of STEM Education, 7, 1-16. 2020.
Margulieux, L. E., Morrison, B. B., & Decker, A.
The curious case of loops. Computer Science Education, 1-28. 2020.
Morrison, B. B., Margulieux, L. E., & Decker, A.
Abs
Subgoals, Context, and Worked Examples in Learning Computing Problem Solving. In Proceedings of the eleventh annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER '15). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 21-29. 2015. ABS
Morrison, B., Margulieux, L., and Guzdial, M.
Measuring cognitive load in introductory CS: adaptation of an instrument. In Proceedings of the tenth annual conference on International computing education research (ICER '14). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 131-138. DOI=10.1145/2632320.2632348. 2014.
Morrison, B., Dorn, B., and Guzdial, M.
Adapting the disciplinary commons model for high school teachers: improving recruitment, creating community. In Proceedings of the 9th annual international conference on International computing education research (pp. 47-54). New York, NY, USA: ACM. 2012
Morrison, B., NI, L., Guzdial, M.
Courses Taught
CS 1110 Introduction to Programming
CS 2100 Data Structures and Algorithms 1
CS 2120 Discrete Math and Theory 1
CS 2190 TA Practicum
Awards
University of Nebraska Omaha Alumni IS&T Outstanding Teaching Award
2021
Georgia Tech College of Computing Dissertation Award
2018
Foley Scholars Finalist
2015
ICER Chairs’ Best Paper Award
2015
SPSU Outstanding Faculty Award
2002 & 2007
Featured Grants & Projects
Subgoal Labels for Learning Programming
A common problem in introductory programming courses is the expert-novice gap between instructors and students. Instructor are experts in the field of computer science, and they have automated much of the programming skills that students are just starting to learn. This automation makes it very difficult for experts to explain their processes and decisions to novices because they execute them without conscious processing, making them feel like its common knowledge, intuition, or “just the way you do it.” To help instructors verbalize this information, we have used a task analysis procedure with introductory programming instructors to identify subgoals of basic programming procedures. Subgoals are functional pieces of the problem-solving procedures, like defining continuation or termination conditions for while loops. Using these subgoals, we developed a series of worked example and practice problem pairs for learning to evaluate and write expression statements, selection statements, loops, methods, arrays, and classes (using objects and writing classes). Based on our research, students solve novel problems better when they understand the subgoals of the problem solving procedure. This research started with problem solving in block-based languages and in laboratory settings to determine the size of the effect. In these settings, learners performed 7-8% better on assessments when they received subgoal-oriented learning materials. Recent work has applied subgoal-oriented materials to a Java-based introductory programming course, with data collected from class assignments and tests. We found that the subgoal-oriented materials help students to perform better in this learning environment as well, especially early in the learning process and for students who are struggling in the course.
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Collaborative Research: Growing Computer Science Teachers in Iowa through AEA Partnerships
Since 2020, the state of Iowa has required all school districts to create and implement a plan for "high quality" computer science access at all levels of the K-12 curriculum. Because of this, an increasing number of school districts are asking one or more of their high school teachers to transition, at least part time, to teaching computer science. This research-practitioner partnership between the University of Northern Iowa and Iowa's nine Area Education Agencies (AEAs) builds on prior work to provide professional development pathways for teachers interested in pursuing full endorsement-level training. The project will promote the progress of computer science education by increasing access to participation in the partnership to teachers from across the state of Iowa, regardless of their geographic location. The combination of resources from the university and the AEAs will benefit teachers by providing academically rigorous instruction in both computer science and educational pedagogy, as well as a much-needed, peer based, localized, support network. The results of the partnership will include an increased number of highly-qualified and state-endorsed computer science teachers and a new professional development model that could be adapted for use by educational organizations around the country.
This award supports the scale-up of previous work conducted by the University of Northern Iowa Partnership for CS Teacher Preparation. In order to meet the goals of this award, the partnership will work with approximately 18 AEA personnel and 150 classroom teachers participating in two phases over a roughly three-year period. Each of these participants will complete the coursework necessary to earn Iowa's CS endorsement and, in the process, become well-prepared to teach a high-quality introductory programming or CS Principles course. Participants will become familiar with engagement practices and culturally-responsive computing through modeling and explicit instruction. Partner district support personnel will attend a Broadening Participation workshop to learn about biases and to formulate district goals for building a more positive school environment. By the end of the project, six of the nine state AEAs will have hosted a cadre of participants, and the RPP will be well-positioned to launch a truly statewide network for CS Teacher Preparation.
Program Details
This award supports the scale-up of previous work conducted by the University of Northern Iowa Partnership for CS Teacher Preparation. In order to meet the goals of this award, the partnership will work with approximately 18 AEA personnel and 150 classroom teachers participating in two phases over a roughly three-year period. Each of these participants will complete the coursework necessary to earn Iowa's CS endorsement and, in the process, become well-prepared to teach a high-quality introductory programming or CS Principles course. Participants will become familiar with engagement practices and culturally-responsive computing through modeling and explicit instruction. Partner district support personnel will attend a Broadening Participation workshop to learn about biases and to formulate district goals for building a more positive school environment. By the end of the project, six of the nine state AEAs will have hosted a cadre of participants, and the RPP will be well-positioned to launch a truly statewide network for CS Teacher Preparation.