Three Things Every CS Educator Should Know About Their Students' Future
Careers in Software Development
Abstract
Computer science education is fundamentally about transitioning students
from novices to experts. As students learn new hard and soft skills, and
master them, they grow more confident in their abilities and interactions
with others. We are pleased to see them become big fish in a small pond.
But, when college graduates enter the software engineering workforce, just
how well do they fare? In this talk, I'll show you three surprising
challenges that we saw newly graduated Computer Science students overcome as
they began careers in software development at Microsoft. With the adoption
of some innovative pedagogical approaches in Computer Science education
already being taught in universities around the world, I think we can ease
the transition and better prepare students for positions in the software
industry.
Biography
Dr. Andrew Begel
is a researcher in the Human Interactions in Programming group
at Microsoft Research, Redmond, USA. He studies software engineers at
Microsoft to understand how they communicate, collaborate and coordinate,
and how this impacts their effectiveness in collocated and distributed
development. After conducting studies, he builds collaboration tools to help
mitigate the issues that were discovered.
Computational Thinking and Interdisciplinary Encounters
Abstract
In an influential 2006 article, Jeanette Wing called for the
elaboration of an approach to "computational thinking." Wing argued
that computational thinking expresses the importance of computer
science to general education, and provides a basis for
interdisciplinary collaboration, by setting out the conceptual
foundations of computational modeling and reasoning.
In this talk, I want to reflect on alternative ways of approaching computational thinking as a site of disciplinary encounter, with a particular focus on the ways that interdisciplinary work might be generative of new forms of computational thinking. This work grows out of a collaboration with colleagues in Australia, whose research is focused on the use of information technology in the cultural practices of indigenous Australian groups, particularly the Yolngu of Northeast Arnhemland. Yolngu epistemology provides an interesting starting point for reconsidering aspects of computational practice, which suggests new perspectives on computational thinking and its practice, and on the possible relationship between computer science and other disciplines.
Biography
Paul Dourish is Professor of Informatics at UC Irvine, with courtesy appointments in Anthropology and in Computer Science, and directs the interdisciplinary graduate program in Critical Practices in Arts, Science, and Technology. Before joining UC Irvine, he was a member of the Computer Science Laboratory at Xerox PARC. His research lies broadly at the intersection of computer science and social science, with particular interests in human-computer interaction, computer-supported cooperative work, ubiquitous computing, and social studies of science and technology. His book "Where the Action Is: The Foundations of Embodied Interaction" was published by MIT Press in 2001; a new book on social and cultural accounts of ubiquitous computing is due for publication in 2011.
Seeking NSF Funding Opportunities