When and Where:

Undergraduate Course 15-296
Spring 2008
Tuesday and Thursday, 3:00 - 4:20 p.m.
Wean Hall 5316

Instructor: Dr. Carol Frieze
Units: 6 (mini)

Course Description:

In this “research and action” based course we will explore computing from a cultural perspective. We will reflect on some issues often taken for granted e.g. are our attitudes to computing generalizable or culturally specific? How are computing, computer science, and people in the field perceived and represented in US culture? Can this cultural perspective help us understand the declining interest in computer science in the USA? The 2007 Computing Research Association (CRA) bulletin reports: “The decrease in new majors has meant that the number of students enrolled in CS has fallen for several years. Between 2005/2006 and 2006/2007, enrollments went down 18 percent to 28,675. Overall, enrollments dropped 49 percent from their height in 2001/2002." Meanwhile, in many other parts of the world, interest in computing education and computing careers, appears to be on the increase.

Using academic papers, web sites, media texts, group discussion and interviews we will examine some of the broad issues surrounding computing and explore, for example, how cultural images, attitudes and access to resources can impact participation in computing. We will use findings from our investigations to build an action component in which student teams develop and implement a public presentation aimed at broadening understanding of, and participation in, computing.

Tasks and Topics:

This course is aimed primarily at students who are interested in exploring some of the broad issues of computer science and who would like to direct their interests towards creative outreach activities, thus also gaining experience in teaching and presenting.

Some tasks and topics:

• Self-reflection on attitudes and attitudes of others to computing
• Identifying the role of images in the formation of pre-conceived views of computer science and the computing profession
• Opportunity to define and redefine what it means to be a computing professional in the USA in the 21 st century
• Interviewing a professional in the field to explore some "myths and reality"
• Reading and analyzing research texts which may challenge traditional thinking
• Exploring computing in other cultures and writing a research paper on the findings
• Recognizing that access to computing resources and attitudes to computing issues are subject to cultural factors (e.g. political, economic, social and educational)
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Teaching and presenting

Grading:

Students will be graded primarily on the quality of their performance in 3 assignments –2 individual assignments and one team assignment. The assignments will constitute 80% of the final grade. The course will be divided into 3 parts with grades assigned 25%, 30%, and 25% to each assignment respectively.

Class attendance and participation in discussion will count for 20% of final grade.

 

Syllabus

Introduction: An overview of the Course Contents, Assignments, the Issues, and Grading

• What are some of the major current issues of concern relating to computer science in the USA?
• What part do images play in these issues and in the re-production of culture?
• What do we mean by computing and/or computer science?
• Images of the field and the people in it ( USA): "CS Stereotypes, myths, and reality"
• Broadening participation in computing: Does this matter?
• How does our understanding of computing and images of the field relate to broadening participation?
• Current outreach efforts: challenging images, broadening understanding and broadening participation
• A global perspective on computing cultures

Readings: (see below)

Part 1: Issues and Definitions

• What are the issues?
• Why “Images”? Why Challenge images of Computing?
• What do we mean by Culture?
• What do we mean by Computing and/or Computer Science (CS)?

"Computer science is nothing less than a new way of thinking; explaining it to the wider world is critical to the future of the field." [S. Arora, B. Chazelle, Communications ACM 48 (2005), 31-33]

Readings: (see below)

Assignment 1: In-class Questionnaire

Part 2: Images of the Field (USA) and Participation in CS

• Participation in Computer Science: Data from the USA
• Broadening Participation in Computer Science: Why does this Matter?
• The Images of the Field (USA): Myths, Stereotypes, Reality and Challenges

Readings: (see below)

Assignment 2: Due Date: April 3 Each student will conduct an interview w/computing faculty, or w/ industry researcher/engineer, to find out firsthand about their self-image, their day-to day work, and general computing company/department culture. Students will write a report for each interview and include the interview transcription. The reports will compare their expectations with their interview findings and comment on ways in which their findings challenge and/or support popular images of computing professionals.

Part 3: Outreach and Broadening Understanding of CS

• Current Outreach Efforts
• Presenting New Images of the Field and the People in it
• Readings and Outreach Assignment 3.

Students will read about, and see videos of, some current outreach efforts and assess their potential impact for broadening participation. Discussion will focus on creativity, on ideas and preparation for presentations.

Readings/viewings: (see below)

Assignment 3: Due Date: April 15 Students will work in small teams on an outreach component in which each team prepares and implements a presentation at a local venue, or on campus, with the goal of showing the breadth of computing and the potential for broadening participation.
Factors to consider:

• What are your aims?
• Who is your target audience? —elementary students, middle school, high school, college level students, parents, teachers, children with disability? e.g. Western PA School for the Deaf
• What equipment will you use?
• How long should the presentation be?
• How will you measure impact?

Part 4: A Global Perspective

In this final part of the course we will take a global perspective on computing by looking at some case studies from other countries and cultures. We will look at cultural influences and specific factors contributing to different levels of participation. In particular, by looking at the different levels of participation of women in the field we will establish that participation in, and perception of, computing is impacted by cultural factors.
Discussions will involve tips on writing a good research paper.

Readings: (see below)

Assignment 4: Due Date: May 5 Students will write a 2-3 page research paper exploring attitudes to, and participation in, computing in a specific country, culture, or micro-culture.

Readings

Part 1. Issues and Definitions

• Peter Lee, “Shrinking Pipeline”, blog 2004
• Sanjeev Arora and Bernard Chazelle, “Is the Thrill Gone?” Communications ACM 48 (2005), 31-33.
• Raymond Williams, “Culture is Ordinary”, originally published in N. McKenzie (ed.), Convictions, 1958
• Roland Bathes, Selections from “Rhetoric of the Image”, Image, music, text, 1977
• What is Computing/Computer Science?
  Questionnaire responses
  ACM: Computing Curricular Report 2005

  Part 2. Images of the Field ( USA) and Participation in CS

• The Data: CRA Taulbee Reports 2003-2007
• Orit Hazzan, “Diversity on Computing: A Means or a Target?” http://www.hwswworld.com/pdfs_10_30_2006/frontier38.pdf
• Broadening Participation in Computing Research and Education [2004 CRA report]
• Blum, L. and Frieze, C. In a More Balanced Computer Science Environment, Similarity is the Difference and Computer Science is the Winner, Computing Research News, Vol. 17/No. 3 2005(a) http://www.cra.org/CRN/articles/may05/blum.frieze.html
• Claude Steele “A Threat in the Air: How Stereotypes Shape Intellectual Identity and Performance”, American Psychologist. Volume: 52. Issue: 6. 1997. Page Number: 613. 2003 Dec Vol 95(4) 796-805
• Shih, M., Pettinsky, T. and Trahan, A. “Domain Specific Effects of Stereotypes on Performance”, Faculty Research Working Papers Series, Harvard School of Government, 2005http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/Research/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP05-026/$File/rwp_05_026_pittinsky.pdf

  Part 3. Outreach and Broadening Understanding of CS

• UW video: http://www.cs.washington.edu/WhyCSE
• Women@SCS Outreach Roadshow
  http://women.cs.cmu.edu/What/Outreach/#roadshow
• Computer Science Teachers’ Association (CSTA) Resources page:
  http://www.csta.acm.org/Resources/sub/DownloadableResources.html
• CSTA Brochure for Middle Schools:
  http://www.csta.acm.org/Careers/CSTA-MiddleSchool-broch-new.pdf
• ACM Careers Brochure:
  http://computingcareers.acm.org/?page_id=58

  Part 4. A Global Perspective

• Leaonard Lynn and Harold Salzman, "The Real Global Technology Challenge”, Change, July/August 2007
• Vashti Galpin, "Women in Computing around the world", ACM Press, SIGCSE Bulletin Volume 34,  Issue 2, 2002
• Globalization and Offshoring of Software: A Report of the ACM Job Migration Task Force, 2006 http://www.acm.org/globalizationreport/summary.htm
• BusinessWeeK Online: "A Lesson in Computer Literacy from India's Poorest Kids", 2000 http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2000/nf00302b.htm
• Mazliza Othman and Rodziah Latih, “Women in Computer Science: NO SHORTAGE HERE!” Communications of the ACM, Vol. 49. Number 3, 2006
• Paul Brand and Anke Schwittey, "The Missing Piece: Human-Driven Design and Research in ICT and Development", IEEE 2006
• Larisa Eidelman and Orit Hazzan, “Factors influencing the Shrinking Pipeline in high schools: A sector-based analysis of the Israeli high school System”, Proceedings of SIGCSE 2005 - The 36th Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, pp. 406-410. 2005
• Bill Gates: World Economic Forum 2008 http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/exec/billg/speeches/2008/01-24WEFDavos.mspx
• Selections from news articles...