Carnegie Mellon
School of Computer Science

Dr. Carol Frieze

Office: Gates 4111
Phone: 412-268-9071

email: cfrieze @ cs.cmu.edu

Understanding and Broadening the Images of Computing

When and Where:

Undergraduate Course 15-296
Spring
Tuesday and Thursday, 3:00 - 4:20 p.m.
Wean Hall 5304

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

Course Description:

"“Computer science is driving an economic and cultural revolution across the globe at the same time that it is fading from the K-12 landscape in the U.S.,” said John White, ACM Executive Director and CEO. “We simply are not doing enough to help students get exposure to engaging and rigorous computer science.”" 
[ACM Press Release, July 30th, 2010]

In July 2010 a key legislative initiative --the Computer Science Education Act--was introduced to address the growing crisis in K-12 computer science education. [ACM Press Release, July 30th, 2010] Across the USA access to computer science courses is declining, while teacher training and certification in the field are in disarray. Meanwhile, in many parts of the world, interest in computing and computer science education are on the increase. At the same time US government projections between now and 2018 suggest that among all occupations in all fields of science and engineering, computer science occupations are projected to account for nearly 60% of all job growth [Computing Community Consortium, 2010].

In this research and action based course we will explore computing from a cultural perspective and look in particular at the images of computing. We will examine how the field is represented in the popular culture of the USA and how such representations might affect public attitudes, access to resources and understanding of computer science. We will reflect on some issues often taken for granted e.g. are our attitudes to computing culturally specific? Is computing and its workforce perceived and represented differently in cultures from around the world? Do computer scientists have a role to play in shaping perceptions of computing?

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 teamwork, teaching and presenting. We will use academic papers, web sites, group discussion/debate and popular media. Findings from our investigations will inspire the action component in which student teams develop and implement a public outreach presentation aimed at re-presenting the exciting field of computer science with broad appeal in mind.

 

Grading:

Students will be graded primarily on the quality of their performance in 3 quizes and 1 final project. The assignments will constitute 80% of the final grade with grades assigned 20%, 20%, 20% and 20%, to each assignment respectively.

Class attendance and participation is critical to doing well in this course and will count for 20% of the final grade.

 

Syllabus

Introduction and Overview

  • Readings, coursework, assignments, and grading
  • In-class Questionnaire
  • Teamwork vs groupwork
  • Discussion of Final Outreach Project.
    This involves a Team Presentation plus Individual Paper. Factors to consider:
    • What are your aims?
    • Who is your target audience? e.g. elementary students, middle school, high school, college level students, parents, teachers, people with disabilities?
    • How long should the presentation be?
    • How will you measure impact?
    • What will you include in your paper?

Part 1: Culture, Images and Meaning

  • What are the issues?
  • What do we mean by Culture?
  • Why are images important?
  • What do we mean by Computing and/or Computer Science? Team Presentations
  • Culture, Images and Meaning
    • QUIZ 1. Thursday, March 28th

Readings:

Part 2: Images of the Field (USA): Participation, Myths, Stereotypes and Challenges

  • Why “Images”? Why might we need to broaden images of Computing?
  • Participation in Computer Science: Data from the USA
  • Broadening Participation in Computer Science: Why does this Matter?
  • Myths and Stereotypes Team Presentations
    • QUIZ 2. Thursday, April 11th

Readings:

Part 3: A Global Perspective on Computing

  • Case studies from other countries and cultures. Team Presentations
  • Are there different levels of participation in computing and computer science in other countries?
  • Why might this be?
  • Is computing perceived differently in different countries and cultures?
    • QUIZ 3. Tuesday, April 30th

Readings:

Part 4. Outreach and Broadening Understanding of Computer Science

"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]
  • Presenting New Images of the Field and the People in it
  • Final Outreach Projects: Public Presentations (in Teams) and Related Paper (Individual)
    • Deadline for Final Papers and Presentations: Friday, May 10th

Guidelines for Readings, Presentations and Discussion


Be prepared to discuss/present:

-- a brief summary of the paper
-- the main argument/points made by the author
-- the evidence given to support the argument
-- any key words/phrases
-- what questions are raised?
-- what did you learn?
-- what did you find particularly interesting?
-- do you agree/disgree with the argument made by the author?
-- in what way(s) does the paper relate to this class?
-- any other points ....

 
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