Lori Postner

This study investigated whether humanitarian applications of computing are more interesting and motivating to students than non-humanitarian options and whether there are differences across race/ethnic groups. A survey was developed to measure students' interest by asking them to choose between two applications, one humanitarian and one non-humanitarian. Students were also asked to rate how motivating they would find working on a collection of humanitarian and non-humanitarian applications. 376 introductory computing students at four institutions completed the survey and 340 student responses were analyzed based upon their self-reported races/ethnicities. Students in all race/ethnic groups were more interested in and motivated by humanitarian applications over non-humanitarian options. Black, Latinx and White students chose humanitarian applications more often than Asian students, indicating a higher level of interest in computing for social good. All four groups rated humanitarian applications statistically higher than non-humanitarian at the p<.001 level.

Community and Technical Colleges are pivotal two-year educational institutions within the United States. These colleges have been at the crossroads of numerous educational initiatives and partnerships, spanning K-12 education, traditional four-year colleges, and collaborations with various workforce and industry sectors. A highlight of Community Colleges lies in their diverse and heterogeneous student body, which is further shaped by the influence of workforce demands that guide the crafting of specific curriculum components. As a result of these dynamics, Community Colleges present a rich array of computing programs, among them Computer Science degrees, particularly the Associate in Science (AS) and Associate in Arts (AA) variations, commonly known as academic transfer degrees. These transfer-focused degrees are meticulously structured to harmonize learning outcomes, objectives, and competencies with the esteemed ACM/IEEE curricular guidelines. This alignment primarily aims to forge comprehensive two-year pathways that seamlessly bridge curricula and facilitate the transfer of credits to Computer Science programs at four-year institutions. Computer Science programs offered at the lower-division undergraduate level face curriculum-related challenges and emerging prospects while embracing the recommendations set forth by curricular guidelines such as ACM/IEEE-CS/AAAI CS2023. These challenges encompass factors like the allocation of transfer hours, the breadth of subject matter within computer science, and the evolving efforts to secure ABET accreditation for two-year computing programs. In this paper, authors from several community colleges present significant curricular and pedagogical challenges confronting Computer Science programs in two-year programs, additionally to contextualize the role of community colleges in the ACM/IEEE-CS/AAAI CS2023 project.

Incorporating mathematics in computing has been a subject of ongoing deliberation within computing curriculum recommendations spanning several decades. Depending on the specific computing area or program, there is a variation in the advocated number of math contact hours. For instance, two-year programs like community colleges require many math hours due to curriculum alignment and agreements with four-year colleges. In other cases, the regional workforce and the career opportunities provided by local industry partners influence a degree program’s math courses/topics. The debate surrounding the appropriate number of math contact hours in computing programs has persisted over the years and has yet to be a definitive solution. Curricular guidelines such as ACM/IEEE-CS/AAAI CS 2023 and Information Technology 2017 have proposed math education based on competencies and workforce perspectives. Specifically, the former now recommends a tailored math background based on the knowledge area within computer science. This approach allows for a more flexible structure of knowledge units, encompassing specific topics, learning outcomes, and competencies. This paper explores various approaches and solutions proposed in the first two years of computing education programs to address challenges and gaps in computing education. It also highlights the short-term and long-term challenges computing programs and educators face.

The persistent lack of women in computing programs leads to some key questions about how to engage more women in computing. Although prior research has shown that women self-report they are motivated by the potential "doing good" nature of computing, this paper describes a more focused study designed to investigate if there are differences in women's interest and motivation in developing humanitarian vs. non-humanitarian applications. 376 introductory computing students completed a survey about what applications they would find interesting and motivating to develop. Students were asked to choose which of two applications, one humanitarian and one non-humanitarian, they would be more interested in developing. For example, would they rather write an application to track seasonal flu patients or pizza deliveries. Students were also asked to rate how motivating they would find writing various humanitarian and non-humanitarian applications. For example, students rated their motivation to write applications to find available shelter space for the homeless and to find profitable locations for new stores. Results of 364 usable surveys of introductory computing students demonstrate that women are more interested in humanitarian applications as opposed to non-humanitarian and women are more motivated by humanitarian applications than non-humanitarian. One way to engage more women in computing may be to frame programming examples and assignments with a humanitarian focus and eventually have students contribute to projects for social good.

This Research Full Paper describes a case study of educators changing practice as a result of interactions with an open source software community. It examines an NSF-funded initiative designed to expose educators to humanitarian free and open source software (HFOSS) communities and, in turn, to support them in involving their students in these communities as part of their classroom experience. To date, more than 150 faculty from over 120 different institutions have participated in the initiative’s faculty development workshops. In this work, we conducted in-depth interviews with 24 workshop participants. The interviews explored how faculty had adopted HFOSS in the classroom, the hurdles and successes they encountered, and how their teaching had changed, among other questions. Some of the themes we identify in our data – obstacles to adoption, such as a lack of time, and the importance of the institutional context – confirm prior findings in the literature on pedagogical change. However, this work also identifies several additional nuances that have not previously been reported and emphasizes common aspects among educators who successfully adopted a practice.

Community and Technical Colleges are two-year college institutions in the US that have been at the intersection of many educational initiatives and partnerships, such as K-12, four-year colleges, and workforce/industry partnerships. Community Colleges are notable for their diversity and heterogenous student population, but also for the workforce's influence to disseminate specific curriculum requirements. Therefore, community colleges offer a large variety of computing programs, including computer science degrees, notably Associate in Science (AS) and Arts (AA) (a.k.a. academic transfer degrees). Ideally, these transfer degrees align learning outcomes, objectives, and competencies to the ACM/IEEE curricular guidelines, mainly to create two-year programs, align curricula and ease transferability to four-year colleges. Due to the nature of these degrees, computer science education at the lower-division undergraduate level faces curriculum challenges and emerging opportunities while adopting curricular guideline recommendations. Some of these include the number of transfer hours, the scope of topics in computer science, and the most recent ABET accreditation efforts at the community college level. This discussion aims to identify and recognize additional significant challenges that computer science programs in community colleges face, particularly while adopting curricular guidelines recommendations, such as CS 2023. Moreover, the discussion on this matter will influence the recognition of curricular guidelines and considerations for two-year programs in computer science. Compilation of community colleges' viewpoints and feedback during this conversation will be considered part of the curricular practices "Community Colleges Perspectives: From Challenges to Considerations in Curricula Development" document, featured in the new version of the CS2023: ACM/IEEE-CS/AAAI Computer Science Curricula.