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Teaching CS around tasks for the benefit of society

Teaching CS around tasks for the benefit of society. Michael Goldweber Xavier University mikeyg@cs.xu.edu. What is your primary goal?. For more students to go on and major/minor in CS? For students to eventually be well employed in the ICT sector?

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Teaching CS around tasks for the benefit of society

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  1. Teaching CS around tasks for the benefit of society Michael Goldweber Xavier University mikeyg@cs.xu.edu

  2. What is your primary goal? • For more students to go on and major/minor in CS? • For students to eventually be well employed in the ICT sector? • For students to go on and make a (significant) contribution to society? Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

  3. Role ModelsWho are computing’s role models? Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

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  9. How would a lay-person answer this question? Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

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  11. Search for young reader books about the heros/role models from other disciplines (e.g. Einstein, Curie, Nightingale, da Vinci) as well as those from computing. Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

  12. Young children form impressions of various disciplines based on whom they see (or are told) are the discipline’s heros/role models. Television, movies and literature all play a very complex role in this. Some research suggests that career choice (or at least disposition toward various careers) is made as early as kindergarten. Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

  13. Motivations What initially attracted you to computing? What do you think attracted our current students to computing? Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

  14. Perceived Disincentives • Boring • Tedious • Irrelevant Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

  15. Isn’t it time we all got beyond the image that computing is made up of nerdy, anti-social males, solo programming in a window-less cubicle. Let’s not overlook that the cubicle is in some warehouse, the guy is drinking Red Bull, and his shirt is a stained replica of a 1960’s Star Trek uniform. Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

  16. Researchers believe there is a 4x rate of graduation in social science over computer science. Discovered explanation: students’ desire to have a positive societal impact.1 1 – “Socially Relevant Computing” by Buckley,et, al. (SIGCSE ’08) Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

  17. Unattractive (behavior-wise) capitalist role models for a discipline perceived as boring, tedious and irrelevant, at a time when students desire to have a positive societal impact! Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

  18. Outreach Programs • CS Unplugged • CS4FN • The Beaver Contest (Bebras: International Contest on Informatics and Computer Fluency) • The Inside CS Project • The CS Academia and Industry Programme Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

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  20. Outreach Programs (con’t) • Project Impact (Students Interested in Mathematics and Problem-solving unAware of Computing Talent) • Digital Divas • The Go Girl Go for IT event • Microsoft Research (MSR) Gender Diversity Strategy and Implementation Initiative • Etc. Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

  21. Middle school/high school outreach programs, by themselves are insufficient. What do you do on the first day of your intro course? Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

  22. Reunited, Post Disaster Describe an algorithm directing aid workers in reuniting families after a disaster. Assume all survivors are gathered, sans-mobile phones, in the undamaged football stadium. Make any other simplifying assumptions you wish. (e.g. working PA system, unique surnames) Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

  23. OpportunityReinforce our Social Relevance • Rethink motivating examples. • Reconfigure programming projects to reflect the social value of computing. • HFOSS? Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

  24. Pro social relevance is not anti-business, nor is it anti-gaming. Its just another important dimension that many curricula overlook. Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

  25. Computing for the Social Good "Instead of using one's knowledge of computing to make money, how can one use computing to do good in the world?" Mikey Goldweber - Xavier University

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