Designing collaborative learning in large introductory courses

Introductory courses present a challenge because the students have varying degrees of prior knowledge, the majority of the students do not intend to fake additional courses in the domain and they usually have large enrollment. A typical example is Computer Science I. Studio format is ideal if faculty resources are available. However, sixteen sections quickly tax even large departments. The paper describes how we used diversity of background as a strength and how interactivity was introduced in large (200+ student) sessions using one faculty member and a number of graduate teaching assistants.