Grant Braught

The aim of this tutorial is to teach faculty the fundamentals of Git and GitHub using the GitKit. The GitKit is a snapshot of the artifacts (codebase, issues, etc.) of an authentic Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) project, packaged with learning activities, an instructor guide, and a cloud-based development environment. The GitKit's learning activities introduce a GitHub workflow and Git basics by modeling the process of contributing to an authentic FOSS project. The activities introduce not only Git and GitHub, but also provide exposure to how these tools support the needs of Open Source (and commercial) development practices. The majority of the tutorial time will be dedicated to hands-on learning with the GitKit. Participants will work in small groups to complete key activities from the GitKit to learn both Git and GitHub fundamentals, and to see what their students would experience while using the GitKit. This will include an introduction to FOSS community principles, roles and practices as well at basic Git commands and GitHub workflow. The tutorial will conclude with information about how participants can deploy the GitKit as a short (1-2 session) or medium (4-6 session) length module in software development courses ranging from high school through college. A laptop is required for participants.

The recently released CS2023 Curriculum Guidelines propose a "CS Core" of topics that any student with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science must know. While the process of generating CS2023 included multiple rounds of feedback from the CS community, the end result is necessarily the result of compromise and may not meet the needs of all institutions. In particular, the size of the CS Core, as measured in instructional time or courses, may not be consistent with all programs. Small programs with limited faculty, liberal arts programs wishing to ensure space for academic exploration, or departments wanting to explore less traditional curricular structures may find a large CS Core limiting. The 2024 report "Piecing Together the Next 15 Years of Computing Education" edited by Decker and Weiss discusses the challenges of our increasingly "overstuffed curricula" and the barriers this can erect against broadening participation in computing. This BoF will start from the position that there are various audiences interested in identifying a CS Microkernel - a small set of the most essential CS skills and concepts that all programs should cover. We will explore reasons CS educators may be interested in a CS Microkernel, such as identifying the central CS content for a CS+X major or for a CS minor, or aiding transfer students. We will then discuss what processes and principles we might follow to identify the Microkernel content. We intend for this BoF to serve as a starting point for a more extended project exploring this topic.

ACM/IEEE curriculum guidelines for computer science, such as CS2013 or the forthcoming CS2023, provide well-researched and detailed guidance about the content and skills that make up an undergraduate computer science (CS) program. Liberal arts CS programs often struggle to apply these guidelines within their institutional context and goals. Historically, this has been addressed through the development of model CS curricula tailored for the liberal arts context. We take a different position: that no single model curriculum can apply across the wide range of liberal arts institutions. Instead, we argue that liberal arts CS educators need best practices for using guidelines such as CS2023 to inform curriculum design. These practices must acknowledge the opportunities and priorities of a liberal arts philosophy as well as a program's mission and identity. This paper reviews the context and motivation behind computing in the liberal arts. We also review the history of liberal arts CS educators and ACM/IEEE curriculum guidelines. We present data and trends about liberal arts computing programs, discussing how this informs curriculum design. Finally, we propose a process that guides programs to work with curriculum guidelines through the lens of institutional and program missions and identities, goals, and situational factors.