Liberal Arts Computing Curricula

SIGCSE 2020 Pre-Symposium Event by the SIGCSE Committee on Computing Education in Liberal Arts Colleges

Liberal Arts Computing Curricula:
Innovations, Challenges, and Opportunities

Organized by members of the SIGCSE Committee on Computing Education in Liberal Arts Colleges, this pre-Symposium event will let us share and learn about curricular innovations, challenges, and opportunities particular to our liberal arts settings.

The event will include participant presentations, group discussions and breakout sessions organized around submitted topics (See Call for Participation below). A short business meeting will provide opportunity to shape future Committee activity in support of the liberal arts computing education community. Optional dinner groups will be organized to provide opportunity for further networking.

All interested faculty and students are welcome.

There is no cost to participants. However, all participants must respond to the Call for Participation in one of the three forms described below. We anticipate being able to invite everyone who expresses interest. However, in the unlikely event that our venue cannot accommodate everyone, attendees will be selected giving first priority to those presenting examples or challenges and then reviewing attendance applications to achieve representation from a broad range of institutions.

Event Information

Important Dates:

Call for Participation:

The program committee invites three types of submissions for the pre-symposium event. Submission of one of the three types is required for participation in the event. Participants are welcome to make multiple submissions.

  1. Innovative Curricular Models for Computing Education in the Liberal Arts:​ A brief (approximately 2-page) description of the curricular model of your liberal arts computing program.

    Please see the Curriculum Submission Template and the samples (Dickinson College, Whitman College). Submissions will be lightly screened by the program committee for suitability and will be made available to the community through this site. In addition, the program committee will invite some authors to present their models during the event.

    Submissions describing models that are particularly innovative, or that leverage particular opportunities and/or challenges presented by the liberal arts context, and/or show potential for broadening participation in computing are encouraged. In addition, models containing elements that show promise for adaptation/adoption across institutions will be given preference.

  2. Challenges, Opportunities and Organizational Direction: A short (approximately 1-paragraph) description of a topic for discussion.

    Please see the Challenges Submission Template and the samples (Recruiting, Hiring and Retaining Faculty, Wide Ranging Student Backgrounds). Submissions will be lightly screened by the program committee for suitability and will be made available to the community through this site. In addition, the program committee will use submissions in this category, in conjunction with topics highlighted in the Committee’s Inroads report, to select 5-6 topics of broad interest as foci for the breakout discussion groups.

    Submissions identifying specific challenges and opportunities presented by teaching computing in a liberal arts setting are encouraged. Submissions proposing particular future directions and initiatives for the SIGCSE Committee on Computing Education in Liberal Arts Colleges are also welcome.

  3. Attendee: An e-mail expressing interest in attending and participating in the event without making a submission in either of the other two categories.

Submission Process:

Submissions may be made in one of two ways:

Those interested in attending without submission should simply simply send an e-mail to davisj@whitman.edu expressing your interest in participating in the event.

Post Event Report

The Program Committee intends to collaborate with interested authors of submitted curricular models and discussion topics to edit a collaborative event report. This report will be posted to this repository and submitted to a peer reviewed venue for publication (e.g. SIGCSE Bulletin).

Organizers

Program Committee

Tentative Event Agenda

Time Activity
1:30-1:45 Overview of the event, introductions, and initial networking activity.
1:45-2:15 Presentations of innovative curricular models for computing education in the liberal arts (number and duration depending upon submissions). Curricular models presented will be selected from submissions.
2:15-3:00 Breakout session to discuss curricular design with report out. Foci for the breakout groups will mirror themes from the curricular models presented.
3:00-3:30 Break
3:30-3:45 Enumeration of challenges, opportunities, and possible organizational directions.
3:45-4:30 Breakout session on challenges, opportunities, and organizational direction with report out. Foci for groups will be derived from submissions.
4:30-5:00 Optional Business meeting.
Evening Optional dinner groups.

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