Understanding and Broadening the Images of Computing
Undergraduate Course 15-296
Offered in Spring 2012 (2nd mini)
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:00 - 4:20 p.m.
Doherty Hall 1209

Instructor: Carol Frieze, School of Computer Science
Units: 6

"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. This legislation is a   watershed moment that will steer the movement toward strengthening U.S. K-12 computer science education." [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 at the role played by images in what some have called a crisis in computer science education. We will be looking in particular at the images of computing, and examining 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 or is computing and its workforce perceived and represented differently in cultures from around the world?

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.

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