Comparison of Educational Components and Organizational Support

1. Recruit students
   • rather modest ACM, CSTA activities
   • even more modest SIGCSE, SIGITE activities
   • dismal public image of nature of computer science and career opportunities
   • particular issues recruiting women and other under-represented groups
     
     
2. Identify what to teach (curricula)
   • ACM Education Board with IEEE-CS
     
     
3. Determine appropriate pedagogy
   • Solid research being done — largely at a few selected research-oriented universities and at many smaller colleges
     • Notable environments/pedagogy include Dr. Scheme/Dr. Java (Rice), BlueJ (Deakin University, Australia, and U. Kent at Canterbury), Alice (CMU and collaborators), Java Power Tools (Northeastern), Media Computation (Ga Tech)
     • Notable experiments in pedagogy include active learning (many), pair programming (L. Williams), lab-based formats (many), kinesthetic learning (many), etc.
   • NSF, foundations, companies helpful in funding
   • Good dissemination by SIGCSE and others
   • Sometimes not given high status at research-oriented universities, and may not count toward tenure
     
     
4. Obtain/develop materials/resources (textbooks, labs, equipment, assignments, etc.)
   • Many exciting environments, textbooks, assignments
   • Some repositories (e.g., CITIDEL)
   • Many faculty seek to create their own rather than use existing materials
     
     
5. Hone teaching skills
   • Range of solid conferences (SIGCSE, SIGITE, CSTA, FIE, APCS)
   • Primarily attended by regular faculty from undergraduate colleges and by special faculty from research-oriented universities
     
     
6. Retain students
   • much discussion at conferences
   • implementation/success is spotty
   • particular issues retaining women and other under-represented groups

created 3 January 2007 last revised 4 January 2007

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