Diversity Through Accessibility

If true about Steve Jobs ...

2011-11-07T15:38:00.006-04:00

Hi all,

It's been some time since my last post, much has happened professionally and personally, almost all great news. Still, this blog is important to me, and I need to resume.

Nothing link the following excerpt from a New Yorker story about Steve Jobs:

Jobs, we learn, was a bully. “He had the uncanny capacity to know exactly what your weak point is, know what will make you feel small, to make you cringe,” a friend of his tells Isaacson. Jobs gets his girlfriend pregnant, and then denies that the child is his. He parks in handicapped spaces.

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/11/14/111114fa_fact_gladwell#ixzz1d3B6OZ6a

I had heard stories of Jobs' confrontational, ranting management style indirectly from a few employees. Since his death, the tributes and "non-tributes" have emerged. Love most of the products, save the heavy-handed closeness of the software, and the constraint for iTunes and the App store.

Still, if the above quote is true, then my opinion of the Apple founder has diminished. I think you can be an innovator, a CEO, and a visionary without impeding the vulnerable.

And to think of how much we talk about accessibility and interface when discussing Apple ;-) -- all opinions are mine -- JD

Computer Engineer Barbie ...

2010-02-13T11:04:00.002-04:00

... take a look at what Barbie's new career will be (by popular demand) -- JD

http://www.barbie.com/vote/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35372184/ns/business-retail/

Your Vote Needed (for all the "Barbies" out there)

2010-01-14T16:46:00.002-04:00

Once again Mattel is providing a chance for people to vote on Barbie's next career, and computer engineer is among the choices -- please consider voting for this option (and thanks to Jane Prey for alerting us to the vote).

CACM Feb 2009

2009-12-29T17:01:00.004-04:00

An article in the Feb 2009 just hit my eyes, authored by Maria Klawe (SIGCSE 2005 keynote) et. al., it revisits the access to computing education for women that was covered in a 1995 piece by the authors -- I got access from here, tough the full reference is below -- and Happy New 2010!

Klawe, M., Whitney, T., and Simard, C. 2009. Women in computing---take 2. Commun. ACM 52, 2 (Feb. 2009), 68-76. DOI= http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1461928.1461947

Lab and lounge space matters

2009-12-17T12:07:00.003-04:00

A recent study at the University of Washington indicates that work space matters in terms of engaging women in computer science and engineering. How many of your lab spaces look like the photo to the right?

So it is OK for our Department to have a nice pizza party as long as they clean up well.

Other ideas? Feng shui anyone? Seriously, I certainly looked into this when arranging the desk in my office, but not in the CS Teaching lab -- I plan to over break.

Paul Samuelson Dies ...

2009-12-13T17:59:00.002-04:00

Yes, he was an economist, not a computer scientist, but in this blog about diversity and accessibility, I could not help note one of his more lucid and sharp observations:

When women began complaining about career and salary inequities, for example, [Pf. Samuelson] said in their defense, “Women are men without money.”

It might be abstractly phrased "... without access."

CS Education Week

2009-12-12T15:27:00.003-04:00

Well, hope you did not miss it, for the first time the Congress has recognized the importance of education/preparation for computer science in the US, some links below:

CS Education Week online
NSF hosted discussion on CS education, including participants from Google, UCLA and the NSF
ACM website
House Resolution

Testing the accessibility of Web 2.0

2009-10-28T17:12:00.001-03:00

from the University of Southampton: ECS researchers have begun a trial of browser and USB (Universal Serial Bus) pen drive applications to assist with the accessibility of Web 2.0 services. more ...

Accessibility is more than technology

2009-09-18T17:44:00.003-03:00

I am using this space to "rant" a bit about the technically sophisticated but "content and organizationally-challenged" website for the Social Security Administration -- and since the term "accessibility" is on the blog, I'm going for it.

The SSA website is accessible -- in fact, more accessible than most -- with options for users with vision impairments (larger text), Spanish language, and alternatives including phone. Even high-contrast (black text on white) with color used to support navigation.

The big, embarrassing issue is content organization. I have a simple question: "Are my kids eligible for survivor benefits?" The question is even found on this page, and it appears that I need to apply. But when you get to that link, there's nothing about survivor benefits. I did not expect a direct answer on a website since my one child is a survivor and has a disability.

So I tried the phone system, with a speaker phone so I could do some work while waiting on hold. Not only did I wait, but the system -- not a person -- hung up on me -- twice.

My father worked for the Social Security Administration, and now I realize the value of his work. The sad part is that his job could have been more productive if he had computing tools that should exist but did not in his day.

I suspect that the existence of an "accessible website" has convinced the SSA that they do not need as many feet on the ground -- but are they wrong. In this case, a poor tool is worse than no tool since it seems I cannot connect, using 20th century technology (i.e., phone), with someone like my father for help.

Thanks for letting me vent a bit.

Not even engineering

2009-08-20T12:35:00.003-03:00

A recently completed study from the National Research Council's National Academy of Engineering (NAE) characterizes the extent and nature of initiatives to teach engineering to K-12 students in the United States. That's great, but similar efforts should be addressed regarding computing.

From the article:

"And with this increased focus, some education experts say momentum is building for more recognition of the "T" and "E" in STEM--technology and engineering, two subjects often overlooked."

I see that engineering and technology may have a point, but at least they are in the acronym (i.e., there is no "C" in the acronym "STEM", though there is computing throughout STEM disciplines) -- perhaps we should come up with another acronym, like "CEMTS" that put computing into the name -- I am open to other suggestions.

Oh, and this make the "diversity through accessibility" blog due to another observation:

"The National Science Foundation (NSF) estimates that although women earned more than 50 percent of all science and engineering bachelor's degrees in 2006, they earned only about 20 percent of degrees in engineering, computer science, and physics."

Women in Science, "in the House"

2009-07-22T15:52:00.002-03:00

Washington, DC: Today the House of Representatives' Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Research and Science Education convened a session on the underrepresentation of Women in Science, specifically the STEM disciplines (including computing, though there is yet to be the letter 'C' in the acronym :-) -- readers will know most of the content, let's hope Congress gets the message as well.

Can't Rise, We're Stuck

2009-06-17T17:27:00.007-03:00

Two reports to read that (apparently) complement (eh, perhaps "amplify" is better) each other regarding computing, science, education and technology, especially among underrepresented groups. I discovered these two report from a recent article by Richard Tapia of Rice University that the ACM Tech News directed to me.

The first is Rising above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (or, RAGS), mandated by Congress and facilitated and published by the National Academies (2007). The goal of the report is noble; to best prepare the US citizens to leverage such things as conceptual understanding and technology to increase our standard of living. Cool. The problem is that we are way behind in not only leading the world in innovations, but even filling the expected wave of skilled careers that are expected. Uncool.

Well, to "fix" this problem, one considers the low hanging fruit. We have lots of people in computing of a certain, dare I say, overrepresented demographic -- people like me. Fortunately this is not a new call (e.g., SIGCSE 2008 :-). So onto the people presently underrepresented, that should provide a rich source of competent and capable talent.

Sadly, the answer appears to be no, as indicated in the second book, Stuck in the Shallow End: Education, Race, and Computing, by Jane Margolis. It seems that simple, tried-and-true teaching techniques (e.g., noticing and encouraging achievement, mentoring) are not as popular for these underrepresented groups as well might expect. Here is an interview with Jane Margolis as well.

My intent with "diversity through accessibility" is to ensure that if we provide means for students to excel, then a more diverse groups will likely emerge. These reports suggest the complement; there are still too many unintentional obstacles that keep students stuck.

Well, two more books to read this summer.

SoftHum & HFOSS

2009-06-11T10:31:00.021-03:00

Hello from the ground floor of the Rush Building at Drexel University where I am part of the NSF-sponsored workshop to explore Open Source Software for Humanity, unofficially abbreviated to SoftHum. After just finishing introductions, we hope to explore how to utilize open source projects in our respective curricula to engage and deepen the understanding and appreciation of software development for our students.

So, the morning involved lots of presentations from the team leaders (Greg and Heidi), as well as a few participants such as Cliff Kussmaul at Muhlenberg (interesting approach, sort of like "backing into" teaching software development), Greg DeKoenigsberg of Red Hat and Frank Hecker of the Mozilla Foundation. We then had a group exercise (no surprise at a SE workshop :-) on teaching and learning exercises & activities for OSS.

Lunch was great, the some summary of the group work, presentations more participants, and onto Ralph Morelli discussing the HFOSS project -- I really am interested in Sahana and working with POSIT on Google Android.

Next Darius Jayazeri (not sure if this is the right spelling) presented OpenMRS.

++

Day 2: There is an interesting debate arising about what puts the "F" in HFOSS, and what would not be HFOSS, politics, perspective, even "political agnosticism." This discussion has a few sides as I see it:

Humanitarian is clearly the application of FOSS for the classics of disaster management, conflict issues and poverty in developing countries (i.e., paternalistic)
Humanitarian also includes education, even locally (i.e., own bootstraps)
Humanitarian is all application, so what if the military argue that their work saves more lives than are lost (i.e., greater good)
Humanitarian is really not applicable to software, as it is a tool and thus "morally neutral."

Libertarian flavor of software was then mentioned, interesting point. Discussion then turned to the concept, attributed to Dave Humphrey, that students should be "productively lost." Heidi and Greg added the technical presentation, including templates and grading rubrics.

Now it's panel time: Greg, Darius, Frank, Clif and Heidi fielded questions and discussed how they teach their courses using HFOSS.

For details, please check back later -- JD

NYTimes: Women and Science

2009-06-05T11:04:00.003-03:00

So, now there is a new article from the NY Times that discusses the apparent improvement in science opportunities for women at major research universities; that is good news, we need all the help we can get. Still, there remains unequal access to certain opportunities (such as salary). Another report suggests that the performance gap between girls and boys in math is decreasing "to the vanishing point." Still more good news.

My big issue with this NAS report is that the panel surveyed six disciplines, including math and physics and engineering, but excluded computer science. And the fight for visibility continues ....

XO in the next CACM

2009-06-03T18:21:00.005-03:00

Heads-up -- it seems that the XO (image right), the accessible-by-design (and low-cost) product of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) group, is featured in an article in the June 2009 issue of the Communications of the ACM where vision is juxtaposed with reality. The next generation XO is featured in the image below-left.

Please read when the article you can, but I came away with the sense that while the output and in-place numbers of XOs in the developing world are each less than promised, the shake-up in the PC industry to respond to the "threat" of losing potential market share has certainly had impact -- again, IMHO -- JD

Evidence of Gender Gap in HS Students

2009-06-02T14:52:00.003-03:00

There is a new report from a NSF study by the ACM and the WGBH Educational Foundation has found evidence supporting the perceived gender gap in interest in computing as a career/profession among high school students -- from the ACM press release:

The gender gap extended to computer science as a potential career choice as well as a field of study. From a selection of 15 possible careers, computer science came in fourth among the respondents, with 46 percent rating it “very good” or “good.” However, while 67 percent of all boys rated computer science highly as a career choice, only nine percent of girls rated it “very good” and 17 percent rated it “good.”

Details in the full report (PDF).

Accessing the Future conference

2009-05-13T16:17:00.004-03:00

It seems the IEEE is teaming up with IBM to sponsor a conference on accessibility that include not only computing and technology, but universal design standards, patient-centered collaborative care, online workplaces and communities, travel and transportation issues, and related topics.

The Accessing the Future conference is schedule for July 20-21, 2009 in Boston, perhaps we can connect with other disciplines to improve accessibility -- perhaps, read here for some overview.

Ada Lovelace Day 2009

2009-03-24T17:35:00.003-03:00

Well, today is Ada Lovelace Day, arguably the first programmer, certainly one of the first to appreciate the potential of algorithms -- I was able to note her contributions briefly in my song about the World of Computing, complete lyrics and recording here:

... Ada Lovelace understood
That Babbage's machine was good ...

Anyway, we were all asked by Barbara Boucher Owens, current president of SIGCSE and role model for women in computing in her own right, to post a blog entry about a role model for women in computing.

That's easy -- especially when I think back on the success, and the skill and effort needed, for SIGCSE 2008, my choice for Ada Lovelace Mentor would be Susan Rodger, Professor of the Practice of Computer Science at Duke University (photo right).

Susan and I co-chaired SIGCSE 2008, so I have worked with her often remotely but consistently throughout 2007 and the start of 2008. Her "pleasant persistence" resulted in many contributions to SIGCSE 2008, including new corporate supporters, a day care center/kid's camp, conference bags, and even SIGCSE cookies.

Susan's contributions to computing education are many, including

JFLAP: a tool to help students visualize NFAs, DFAs, and other concepts found in the theory of computation (and a finalist candidate in the NEEDS Premier Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Courseware)
Alice as tool for outreach and teaching, especially for young women, hosting workshops for middle school teachers
Peer Led Team Learning Activities and Workshops
ACM Java Task Force
Duke Student ACM-W Chapter Faculty Advisor
Distinguished Member of the ACM

Personally, Susan possesses the temperament and drive needed by anyone to succeed in any profession, yet is very approachable and willing to mentor.

Thanks for the chance to promote my former co-chair's (and current friend) accomplishments for Ada Lovelace Day, as well as embarrass her I'm sure :-) -- JD

Enrollments up, but ...

2009-03-20T12:20:00.003-03:00

Wow, here's a NY Times article that notes the recent trends in computing enrollments show some positive news, increasing -- there are some observations about reasons, including Eric Roberts point about the receding competition from the financial industry.

But it was not all good news, especially considering the mission of this blog; from the article:

The study, which for the first time included data from schools of information, indicated that diversity in computer science programs continued to remain poor. For example, the fraction of bachelor’s degrees awarded to women remained steady at 11.8 percent in 2008.

Our work continues.

... onto SIGCSE 2009

2009-03-01T17:31:00.003-04:00

Well, it's now officially been a year (actually just less :-) since SIGCSE 2008, and I am hopeful that the NE weather will cooperate so I can attend SIGCSE 2009 this coming week -- I am assuming that the steering committee people are already en route if not already there.

SIGCSE 2009 has a neat theme/play on words, "engaging CS education" which is always a goal(s) -- I also hope that diversity and accessibility are included in there too, and hope discussions continue in that vein as well.

Finally, a quick look at how assistive technologies can be made that help all students, not just the ones with disabilities (the term I mentally substitute as I read their story every time I see the phrase "disabled") -- accessibility is one of the main reasons I support courses with online materials (as well as backup when people lose paper or files) -- see you in Chattanooga! -- JD

Glass Ceiling in IT still ...

2009-02-23T15:57:00.002-04:00

... just a quick handoff, JD

Analysis: Women in IT still hit glass ceiling
Despite a positive outlook on their careers, the latest research has shown the glass ceiling for women in IT has not yet broken.
By Miya Knights, 19 Feb 2009

2009 Richard Tapia Conference

2009-01-26T11:00:00.001-04:00

Registration Open for 2009 Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in
Computing Conference
http://www.tapiaconference.org/2009

Portland, Oregon, USA--Registration is now open for the 2009 Richard
Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference. The
conference brings together diverse leading researchers from around
the world to present their work on state-of-the-art research in the
field of computing. The 2009 event, the fifth in the series, will
take place April 1-4, 2009 at the Portland Oregon Marriott Downtown
Waterfront.

Early bird registration, with discounted registration fees, closes on
March 1, 2009. March 1 is also the date by which hotel reservations
should be confirmed. Registration information can be found at
http://tapiaconference.org/2009/travel.html.

Something about Obama ...

2009-01-21T12:17:00.003-04:00

Well, I had to contribute something during the week of MLK and the Obama Inauguration -- not much as time is pressed -- let's hope access and diverse "trickle down" (sorry, could not help the reference) to education in computing, perhaps as described in this NY Times article on "Geek Chic."

Project: Possibility

2008-12-30T18:17:00.006-04:00

So, before a family tragedy in Aug 2008, I was scheduled to teach a course on software engineering with accessibility as one of the guiding themes/goals. My thought was similar to curb cuts (see many other posts); use the extremes to get students (and SW developers) to think about how their application can be used by everyone possible.

Well, sounds like I'm not alone; USC has a program called Project: Possibility (perhaps a take on the old Mission: Impossible), a quick NY Times read provides a nice overview (the old large diskette in the graphic needs updating, though they use people first language better than the Times :-) -- and I look forward to developing and offering my accessible software engineering course in the near future.

Obama and computing education ...

2008-12-17T16:30:00.006-04:00

Tha ACM has made a pitch to promote computing education as a core component, see "ACM Urges Obama to Include Computer Science as a Core Component of Science and Math Education; Statement Emphasizes Critical Role of Computer Science as 21st Century Skill," with the full report here -- there seems to be some push for a more rigorous treatment at the K-12 level, stay tuned.
--
PS: W3C upgrades accessibility standards

OSSD and gender ...

2008-12-04T20:12:00.002-04:00

Just a quick handoff to Mark Guzdial's post about the underrepresentation (1.5%) of developers in open source projects -- bye.

This is what I Mean ...

2008-12-03T18:08:00.003-04:00

There are many stories about researchers working continuously to make computing and technology more accessible, especially for people with disabilities. It is great when a tool like a computer (or a ramp) can make living a bit easier for someone with a disability.

However, my point for the theme for SIGCSE 2008 is to show that research to help people with all types of mobility, visual, auditory, psychological and other issues better use IT can actually benefit everyone -- true inclusive computing. (BTW, we have a ramp at my house that helps with the wheelchair and when I need to bring in groceries or firewood. :-)

We always ask our students to think of the general as well as the special/corner cases when developing algorithms and programs -- at Haverford we have been using Test-Suite-Driven-Design (TSDD), related to TDD, in our CS1/CS2 courses as a way to get students to think as deeply as possible before coding. It is analogous to the call of "diversity through accessibility."

I am relatively new to this area, as I was reminded by this article that outlines the work of Rich Ladner (photo left) at U Washington. There are many others as well, and I sometimes feel that there work is seen by an unnecessarily small segment of the computing research population and educators. Their work can inform all.

I really like the final quote of the article:

"I don't see barriers," Ladner said. "I see opportunities."

And I realize this notion has been captured previously by others with such metaphors as "curb cuts." Please feel welcome to share others -- JD

NY Times reminds about women in computing issues

2008-11-18T15:53:00.005-04:00

So, what is it with women and computing, and why don't games work? Are they not "fun enough?"

A recent article in the NY Times appears to address this ongoing question,as have many others (including SIGCSE 2008). Mark Guzdial addressed this recently on his blog (with some interesting comments).

Not that I want to start trouble, but I really believe we should monitor such issues of diversity as they indicate barriers to education may exist -- note, I wrote "may exist." There is a difference between correlation and causality (I know you already know, just a reminder, ya' know :-).

Mark is also correct about the limits of our statements about effectiveness of any tool or pedagogy.

What I like most about the article and one of the comments from Mark's post is that it is OKfor women (actually anyone) to not select computing as long as it is a fair, barrier-free choice (i.e., it's all about accessibility). Instead of starting with diversity, we should be using it as the indicator that something might be wrong with access, but not a conclusion. Also, by focusing on access, we are not only addressing diversity (i.e., access for the under-represented), by also trying to find ways to deliver education to all -- and thus true diversity.

And what's the thing with games? Instead of looking for a silver bullet in teaching, games appear to be a viable alternative for many students. Perhaps we should be looking to increase the toolkit for educators, as well as the guidance on the context to effectively use each tool.

Often the best way to teach is to provide examples; here is an article with a set of role models for women on the web -- Marissa Mayer is featured here as well.

CCSCE 2008; curb cuts

2008-10-10T22:38:00.008-03:00

I am presently in the lobby of the hotel in Frederick, MD after a wonderful day of "computational discussing" at the CCSC Eastern Conference hosted by the beautiful Hood College campus (and I know beautiful, I get to work at Haverford) -- the opening keynote was provided by Catherine C. McGeoch of Amherst College (I was late, but I heard great things), and tomorrow I get to hear Thomas Murtagh of Williams College talk about CS1 with a networking theme -- I was honored to be sandwiched between two presentations and many wonderful presentations (and many students!) to provide an introduction to what I have named "computational singing" (tip of the hat to Jeannette Wing of CMU/NSF) after the banquet tonight. Tom Cortina played a great foil with a broken guitar :-). I am really happy to see good friends and make new connections.
The other news I received from Mark Guzdial's Amazon Blog (and the SIGCSE 2009 blog is great also, I get so much information about computing education and SIGCSE planning -- there a hotel with a train this year !) -- when I have been using the term "accessibility" I could have used "curb cut principle" which I have heard before from Blaise Liffick -- it involves using adaptive tech to help everyone (i.e., a diverse population!) -- I think the article supports the theme from SIGCSE 2008, and invite you to read about it as well.

Making a Case for Diversity in STEM Fields

2008-10-06T15:44:00.003-03:00

I know there is ongoing debate about where computing falls in the academy (science, engineering, business, math, other) ... I do think it is an easy case to make that computing falls across disciplines in the STEM fields.

So I am handing off to a recent article about the motivations to consider diversity in STEM fields (including computing), summarizing here:

First, we must clearly articulate the educational case for diversity, showing how students and society benefit from it.
Second, we need to think more holistically about diversity in STEM.
Third, we must acknowledge that stereotypes still matter, and that they affect perceptions of quality and expectations for performance.

Be warned, there is some pretty contentious debate in the comments at the end (but we should all be open to debate :-).

News from GHC via Mark ...

2008-10-01T12:27:00.004-03:00

It's been a large break from blogging here, and I only have time for a quick report; basically, I refer you to a post by my friend Mark Guzdial about more challenges for mid-level professional in IT who are also women, and other news from Grace Hopper currently underway (so go here for more timely reports)

---

Also, a quick serious note -- and it does connect to SIGCSE 2008 -- my family is presently recovering from two major events, one planned, one not -- my daughter Eva is recovering from a spinal fusion procedure; you may have met her at SIGCSE 2008, she has red hair and severe CP (and depends on a wheelchair) -- she used to have a 110 degree curve in her spine from scoliosis, but now is adjusting to seeing the world from her (previously unused) headrest -- photo here.

But the other adjustment we are all making involves the sudden death of Eva's mom and my wife Ellen, also an attendee at SIGCSE 2008 -- Ellen was not only Eva's mom, but her primary caregiver, nurse and advocate -- we are receiving much support that I am working hard to make as effective as possible, but I will not be posting too much for awhile.

I know, we also lost Randy Pausch this summer, so it's been tough (and support from community even more important).

Evidence from Science

2008-07-28T15:44:00.004-03:00

Today I saw a report in Science Magazine online that a recent study, funded by the NSF, using data from NCLB scores has shown that "... for grades 2 to 11, the general population no longer shows a gender difference in math skills, consistent with the gender similarities hypothesis." *

It basically looks at the scores and finds no statistical evidence that gender implies a significant difference in math performance. There was some slightly greater male variability in scores that remains unexplained, but the data seem to indicate that young women do perform comparably with young men.

I also feel that this evidence supports this blog, that what we really need to increase access to the knowledge, and diversity will be a result (as will a greater range of contributions, more happy people, better products, wisdom, ...). The challenge is to understand different ways in which people learn, handle information, and other issues that can impact the realization of potential.

It's the main reason to attend SIGCSE, to see what works and learn from what did not work.
---
* Janet S. Hyde, Sara M. Lindberg, Marcia C. Linn, Amy B. Ellis, Caroline C. Williams. Gender Similarities Characterize Math Performance. Science 25 (July 2008) Vol. 321. no. 5888, pp. 494 - 495

Thanks, Randy ...

2008-07-25T12:09:00.012-03:00

Today is the day we all knew was approaching, hoping it would recursively wait until tomorrow in the same way Groundhog Day worked -- Randy Pausch (photo left), CMU professor and 2008 SIGCSE Award winner, died overnight from complications due to pancreatic cancer. He has been a very impressive character in computing, and a fantastic representative for all of us in computing and education, especially after the wonderful and inspiring "Last Lecture" talk last Fall 2007 and book.

More impressively, Randy contributed significantly in many ways, from the Alice project at both UVA and CMU, to "forcing by sheer will" the bridges between computing and art/entertainment (hence the SIGCSE 2008 talk by Dennis Cosgrove, and the Randy Pausch's Memorial Footbridge at CMU).

I met Randy at a few SIGCSEs, but I had my deepest conversation (about 60 seconds, he was really energetic) in 2003 at Reno, he was wearing the Mad Hatter hat from "Alice in Wonderland." He was preparing for the conference Alice Tea Party, showing how to engage novice programmers with storytelling and immediate feedback (e.g., "hey, the arm flew off the body, now that's feedback!"). I am sad today, but look forward to seeing him in the next Star Trek film, that will also be bittersweet.

Alice will continue to develop and is a wonderful legacy (I just used it again myself in the spring for a cs0 course and a summer outreach workshop for K-12 teachers). Thoughts and prayers to his family in this tough time, and thanks Randy.

official obituary @ CMU
NY Times blog and article
CBS News report
Reuters
post announcing 2008 SIGCSE Award
post during the Last Lecture Sep 2007
www.alice.org, site of the Alice project

Quick News on the Theme ...

2008-07-23T15:46:00.002-03:00

A few news items of note that touch some part of the SIGCSE 2008 theme:

All for now -- JD

Darwin would need CS today ...

2008-07-16T22:58:00.003-03:00

I thought it was a funny, telling note I read today about how much of Darwin's work, which was very impressive for his day, would need to be augmented:

If we were to go back in a time machine and fetch [Darwin] to the present day, he’d find much of evolutionary biology unintelligible — at least until he’d had time to study genetics, statistics and computer science. O. Judson, NY Times

Just more evidence of the ever increasing role that computing plays in scientific (and other) inquiry -- now if we can only learn to speak the same language ... but that will have to wait for another post!

Title IX and (Computing) Science

2008-07-16T02:02:00.004-03:00

With a blog like this, I had to read the latest NY Times article on the possibility of applying Title IX to science. This federal law is intended to ensure a equal playing field for professionals, both women and men, and has been applied most often (and most prominently) in college sports. I understand that this law, and its implementation in sports, is still controversial but has provided more athletic opportunities for women than in the past. I am not here to debate this as applied to sports.

However, applying Title IX to science seems, on the surface, to be a potential response to diversity issues on gender, especially in computing sciences. Still, it feels "forced" if choices are no longer choices but mandated options.

The NY Times article cites research that I find worthy of further consideration. One reports discusses that women who enjoy manipulating objects and machines were just as likely to pursue computing/IT as men who feel this way.

It is this last observation that I want to note here -- I have always felt my role as an educator was less about retention than discovery -- retention has this implicit notion (perhaps undeservedly) of persuasion against one's actual wishes for the good of the discipline; on the other hand, discovery works first to uncover these individual wishes, and then nurture all students (women or men) to achieve their aspirations in a unfolding process of learning, adjusting and (hopefully) succeeding (i.e., make computing accessible). In this way, people work in careers that are more likely to be meaningful, successful, and thus contribute.

I stipulate that teaching in this ideal way is far more difficult that mandating equality through law and measuring it through counting; again, most worthwhile things are more challenging to achieve.

Tongue-Drive; accessibile SW helps all

2008-07-02T17:12:00.003-03:00

I just had to stop all I was doing and alert subscribers/readers to this neat example of "thinking outside of the box" -- a group at Georgia Tech has developed a way for people who use wheelchairs to navigate with their tongues, but instead of voice commands, they use magnets and muscle -- details at this article.

Personally, I am more impressed at the potential -- there are many people with many impairments, so use of the tongue becomes a viable option, and not just for wheelchairs. If the (software) system is design properly (abstraction, modularity, ...), one should be able to use it as input to other devices (computer, PDA, house, ...). I hope to explore these issues in my initial offering this fall of a course on software development for accessibility -- stay tuned.

I also stumbled across (thanks, ACM Tech News) an article that found (surprise?) that "Mobile users make same mistakes as disabled PC users," suggesting that "special software" to make a mobile device for a person with a mobility issue/disability may actually help all mobile users. I have found that this is more often that case than not, a direct, clear, "user-centric" focus on design can help all, and we expect this type of "thinking in the extremes" in general design with hopes that students develop solutions that work for a diverse a group of users as possible -- one definition of "accessibility" -- now do you see the connection between access and diversity? (sorry, just hopped off soapbox ;-) -- JD

UK: Equalities Bill permits "positive discrimination"

2008-06-26T15:03:00.003-03:00

Well, it appears issues of access and diversity are not limited to US (I kinda suspected that :-) -- a story at BBC online (another story here) tells of an effort by Equality Minister Harriet Harman (photo right) "... to allow firms to discriminate in favour of female and ethnic minority job candidates." It also introduced the term"positive discrimination" to me, not that discrimination is good, but the active, direct use of discrimination to induce/produce whatever demographic outcome is the goal of the project. Feels like making a right from two (or more) wrongs, maybe even justifying means with ends (OK, I am now out of metaphors).

I am also concerned about providing such a legal tool for whatever reason, I suspect it can be used retroactively to justify bad/improper decisions/actions. For example, might I be able to hire another person of type x over other candidates that would produce a more accepted diversity and justify this choice with logic like, "our company deals with people of type x so ...." Perhaps not the best example, but it seems like legislating a policy that needs to be induced with some incentive (like profit or efficiency or access).

Still, it is my understanding that colleges do this all the time to ensure diversity across the student population, affirmative action exists ... I suppose the goal is substantially easier to agree upon that the means to get there (sounds like vacation planning).

Higher Education in Africa

2008-06-20T10:08:00.003-03:00

Just quickly handing off to a post by Ian Foster (photo right) about a report on higher education in Africa, with one of the conclusions (?) that low enrollments are less about demand (see later in the post about students paying for internet access with a high percentage of their available income) and more about "access," and that higher education enrollment level strongly correlates with national income.

Dear Abby; Hispanic Education

2008-06-18T11:37:00.004-03:00

Well, whaddya know, even "Dear Abby" is working to help promote technical education, you're welcome to check one of her recent articles -- thanks to Marty Wolf for the heads-up (now, that would be an interesting special session at a SIGCSE conference :-).

The program involved does try to target "... [r]eturning veterans, people with disabilities, youth-at-risk and dislocated workers interested in participating in the program ..." -- hey, we can use all the help and access we can get.

This just in ...

The White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans is proud to announce a Summit on Education Reform and Hispanic Education Attainment that will be held on Thursday, September 11, 2008 in Washington, DC. Please mark your calendars and plan on attending this substantive event in our nation's capital. More specific details on the summit and a registration form will be forthcoming soon. Please make plans to attend the White House Initiative summit on September 11.

Shooting CS in the foot ..

2008-06-16T12:25:00.005-03:00

So, the theme for SIGCSE 2008, Diversity through Accessibility (and this continuing blog) served the conference well, helping to bring out experts in two related camps and hope they talk, connect, and explore. Well, I just logged in this morning, and this post (warning: this "joke" may offend; it did me) from a blog I subscribe to appeared and just threw me -- I think most of the "people of SIGCSE" would be stunned as well, but this is just a reminder of how such issues of culture and (mis)perception can have lasting and negative impact. This type of comment hurts both access and diversity.

Perhaps some may read and think that I am making a mountain out of a molehill -- in fact, I am trying to turn this molehill/mountain into a level playing field.

++

Addendum: for more evidence of the impact of such "bad form", see this recent article on the observation that about 52% of women in IT leave the field, many citing "sexual harassment" and other demeaning treatment/attitudes (63% reported) -- yikes :-(

Accessibility in the Clouds

2008-05-28T21:02:00.004-03:00

So, as many of you hopefully were successful at seeing old friends and making new ones at SIGCSE 2008, I was busy in the back room keeping the whole thing going ("Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain ...") -- that's why we have co-chairs, so while Susan Rodger would provide "cover", I was able to meet some interesting people as well -- too many to list here, but that's why I return each year to this conference.

One group involves how to teach students for large-scale (actually, growing in scale), data intensive computing as realized on the Internet today -- with a background in HPSC and dependable computing (actually, performability, just to test your spell-checker), I am professionally interested in how to get students (esp. at a small college) to think big; or better yet, to experience big.

Long story short, I am pleased to say that others are interested too, so to have such a discussion I help orchestrate a workshop on DISC, or Data-Intensive Scalable Computing -- it's happening fast, this July 16-18 at the University of Washington -- so do not delay, visit this link to apply.

I was moved to put this announcement for the workshop as I read this article about how politics may impact "cloud computing," the media buzz term for DISC -- they note that global politics may impact OLPC efforts to reach certain populations -- well, it is part of society, but I do not have to like it (so in response, I am working on a song "When Science Meets Society," check later to see if I make enough progress to post the song :-).

Accessibility shorts ...

2008-05-20T20:25:00.002-03:00

OK, so not much explicit news today about accessibility, but a few quick items, if you are so inclined (well, not all today, I just found them today :-) -- JD

ITiCSE 2008 registration opens

2008-05-19T12:46:00.005-03:00

If you enjoyed SIGCSE 2008 (or past ones), then consider attending ITiCSE 2008 (and future ones too), this year in Madrid, Spain -- Cary Laxer invites all to register and attend what is loosely described as a smaller European conference on computing and education, with neat opportunities like working groups -- sponsored by SIGCSE, I have always heard great things (and enjoyed my ITiCSE trip!).

I personally cannot attend as I am hosting CSESI 2008, an outreach project here at Haverford, funded by HHMI, to provide a forum to explore computing in K-12 education. Unless you have a good reason like this, I strongly urge you to get to Spain, oh what you'll gain :-)

OLPC and MS for (more) accessibility ...

2008-05-16T17:14:00.005-03:00

Hey, there's a Microsoft deal that is more relevant than the popular one involving Yahoo! (though who knows how that will play out) -- no, I am referring to the announcement of the Microsoft and One Laptop Per Child program to put Windows on the XO -- this will add a few bucks to the final cost, but low cost is one of the driving forces for this project (cost can be a barrier to access, and thus to potential diversity) -- from a quick read of the NY Times article, it seems again that politics and culture (and "profit") are all involved (understandably so) and it appears that OLPC may have learned from other experiences -- stay tuned.

So, What Is It About Girls and IT?

2008-05-14T16:32:00.007-03:00

The title of this post is taken directly from an article in the Financial Times that describes the known gap in gender and IT -- specifically, that women use IT, and that girls feel IT is "cool" somewhere in the 90% range (the details are in the article, do not trust my memory only) -- so, why?

Shame they missed SIGCSE 2008, maybe they could have come down with us in the trenches of teaching computing and see some of the realities we all see. Another shame is that women may be adding a set of skills presently underrepresented, and needed (see Mark Guzdial's blog post about "computing + X").

I still think it is about access in the most general (perhaps most ideal) sense of the word -- looking at the research in so many other fields about the differences between men and women, we need to think differently, think about flexibility, adaptability, all the good HCI stuff -- do that for a decade or two, and perhaps things will change a bit (I will certainly be changed in that I will be looking to use those retirement funds :-).

+++

Also, I just wanted to send out thanks to the Sisters Rodger -- Sandra for taking so many photos of SIGCSE 2008, and Susan for putting the photo albums online for all to see -- if you missed the Symposium, you can venture to the albums, but be warned, it will just remind you of what a great conference it was -- and perhaps motivate you to work on your SIGCSE 2009 research/writing earlier, get funding and make travel/lodgings plans ASAP.

Last Lecture Number 1 ..

2008-05-06T12:24:00.003-03:00

Hey, I realize he didn't even show up for his award ;-), but I still think it is OK for me to note how cool it is that Randy Pausch continues to make CS and computing education "cool." I just saw that the audio book of his "Last Lecture" is number one on iTunes today, as well as at amazon.com -- I saw the lecture, but have yet to read the book.

Not sure where is best to purchase, but here Randy's page with some links, as well as video of his testimony before Congress (i.e., where he was in lieu of SIGCSE 2008, so he was busy, and rarely do I get a video absence note :-).

Wed, Apr 9, 2008, 10 pm EDT, ...

2008-04-04T15:46:00.008-03:00

... please do not even try to call or email, I rarely turn off the mobile phone (ask Susan Rodger :-), but this coming WED you're just wasting your time -- I was "there" (watching the webcast, thanks CMU) for the original lecture, the one that I was preparing to joke was really not the last lecture since Randy would be speaking at SIGCSE 2008, which really has been the last lecture since Randy was unable to attend and receive the 2008 SIGCSE Award and the deserved applause and compliments from Susan Rodger and me and ....

From Vicki Alstrum, to the SIGCSE community and beyond, we'll be together again this Wednesday, if only to see what Randy comes up with this time -- JD

I noticed a promotion just a moment ago about a Diane Sawyer special on ABC that will be of special interest to our community. This hour-long special, "The Last Lecture: A Love Lecture for Your Life", is about Randy Pausch, who won this year's SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contributions to Computer Science Education.

It airs in this Wednesday, April 9, at 10pm EDT, 9pm CDT. I did a quick search and found two links that preview the special:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=3633945&page=1

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/LastLecture/

-- Vicki

Anne Applin added that Randy is schedule the following morning on GMA -- JD

PS: and welcome to Mary Alessini of Intel who I met at SIGCSE 2008, and has jumped right into the community with a blog at Intel SW College, with a nice post about Randy's special this WED also.

Autism/Asperger's and Us ...

2008-04-04T12:11:00.007-03:00

Yes, SIGCSE 2008 is over, but I do want to continue this conversations, especially about diversity and accessibility in computing education -- which bring me to this recent CW article on Asperger's Syndrome in the IT industry, an interesting piece that does a decent job interviewing a few representatives in industry, and few experts (including Temple Grandin, a name I recognize as I read one of her books on Thinking in Pictures).

Again, most people I have met would like to "do the right thing," but the right thing is often hard and sometimes not as profitable. Still, there appears to be some evidence that doing the right thing for people in IT with high-functioning autism (HFA) or Asperger's Syndrome (Asp) might be quite profitable and the right thing. For example, one could envision an effective manager who recognizes and accommodates a person with HFA/Asp and assigns important work where that person is proficient, as well as a non-HFA/Asp buddy or other accommodation(s) to help with social interactions, feedback and meetings. If anything, I see a risk of exploitation of the person with HFA/Asp, isolating in the name of "helping." Maybe I am an alarmist here, but I am OK with that label until persuaded otherwise :-).

I am happy that there was one note that HFA/Asp may be more difference that disability; consider that people with HFA/Asp tend to need clear guidance and respond to direct feedback, work well independently (sometimes only alone), and are "honest to a fault" which is really an oxymoron if you think about it. As a manager (and I am more professor than executive), I would embrace the trade-off of honesty and clarity for someone who does not get irony or jokes; heck, there are plenty of people from all walks of life who do not understand my humor.

So, how does this inform education in computing? I think there are three areas to start:

recognizing and providing effective accommodation for students with HFA/Asp, like all students with learning issues -- hopefully SIGCSE 2008 started or continued some discussion in this area
cultivating the required capabilities of the "other students" (i.e., non-HFA/Asp) to recognize, communicate with and interact effectively with people with HFA/Asp
providing the needed supports for educators by administration, by professional societies (like SIGCSE, SIGACCESS, others ...) and by the "community at large"

I want to conclude that accommodations can be both the right thing and the most effective thing to do -- they are just not always the easiest or cheapest in the short-term -- but hopefully readers of this blog understand that greedy solutions are sometimes the exact wrong thing to do :-).

++

I do want to explicitly note that Mark Guzdial (photo right) has risen to the challenge of not only running SIGCSE 2009 (with Sue Fitzgerald), but to continue with a SIGCSE 2009 Blog to discuss issues relating to the conference and computing education -- or, as their theme implies, "engaging computer science education" -- I have already subscribed to that blog, it's another resource to help me get the most out of SIGCSE.

The Second Best Reason to Not Attend SIGCSE 2008

2008-03-24T23:34:00.005-03:00

OK, it's been some time since the Symposium came to a close, and my family and I returned to the East Coast -- but there is still many miles before I sleep. Still, I sleep the sleep of the just, since SIGCSE 2008 was just great. Too many people to thank here.

Instead, I turn to the second best reason I heard from a SIGCSE colleague who did not attend SIGCSE 2008 -- if you have been paying attention, you'll recall the story of me as Brian Cashman, Yankee Stadium, and a marriage proposal (if not, click here). As you can now see from the beautiful photo right, Jen and Jeff did get married, but not in Portland; instead, they chose Easter Island.

We'll look to sharing stories of receptions, meetings, dancing and other events at SIGCSE 2009 in Chattanooga next spring!

* BTW, Click here for the best reason I heard to miss SIGCSE 2008

A Big Brick Wall ...

2008-03-07T22:31:00.004-04:00

Well, today it became official, after some speculation after the recent "Games Cruise in CS Education" sponsored by Microsoft ... many who have read here before know the story of Randy Pausch and his "encounter" with a brick wall called cancer (visit here to get Randy's thoughts about this encounter) -- after many weeks of decent news, the brick wall made its presence known; Randy will not be able to deliver his keynote (and SIGCSE Award speech) next Thursday in Portland as we all hoped. I will not even try to guess what it must be like, but suggest you check Randy's Last Lecture for some clues.

However, I would like to think about the brick wall that has been now discovered for SIGCSE 2008 (Note: this is by no means a comparison to the situation for Randy and his family, but I do think Randy would be OK with me viewing this as a wall). Some great people are handling this dynamic situation directly and indirectly, and I feel strongly that this will just be another time for the SIGCSE community to shine.

I have very little experience with brick walls in the direct sense, but even the little experience I do have has demonstrated to me the opportunity for a group to come together, to galvanize bonds and forge news ones. I once heard that adversity does not promote character as much as expose it. I suppose we'll see.

Also, below is the message sent out to the SIGCSE list today, with the news and other information that may be useful to SIGCSE 2008 attendees. Further bulletins will also be posted here and the SIGCSE 2008 Symposium web site, so stay tuned.

Here are just a few last minute updates and reminders for SIGCSE 2008 in Portland, Oregon next week. Up to the minute news will be added to the website and blog.

1) Our Keynote Speaker Randy Pausch is unable to travel cross-country to Portland, due to health issues. Dennis Cosgrove, Project Scientist, and Wanda Dann, Director of the Alice Project, will give a Keynote address on Thursday morning highlighting Randy's contributions to Computer Science Education, including rare footage videos of Randy's work.

2) Getting between the Hilton and other downtown hotels and the Oregon Convention Center.

From the Hilton, walk two blocks to Pioneer Square and take the MAX Rail RED or BLUE eastbound to the Convention Center. MAX drops you off right in front of the convention center.

3) Online registration is closed. You can still register onsite. Registration is at the Oregon Convention Center. Hours are:

Wed. Mar 12 3pm-9:30pm
Thu. Mar 13 7:30am-4pm
Fri. Mar 14 7:30am-5pm
Sat. Mar 15 8am-3:30pm

4) The program is available online here:

http://www.cs.duke.edu/sigcse08/attendees.html

There are many extra events listed on our web page that are not part of the program:

http://www.cs.duke.edu/sigcse08/colocated.html

5) CD Proceedings are included with your registration. There will be a few paper proceedings available at on-site registration for $35 each if you have not prepaid for one.

6) You can still sign up on-site for one of the 35 workshops being offered.

7) There will be free wireless at the convention center Wednesday-Saturday during the conference and extra conference events. Information on how to access the wireless will be in your registration packet. **

We look forward to greeting you in sunny* Portland, Oregon next week.

Susan Rodger and J.D. Dougherty
SIGCSE 2008 Symposium Chairs
rodger@cs.duke.edu, jd@cs.haverford.edu

* We did put in an order for sunny weather, but I think ACM forgot to pay that bill... maybe they will still pay it in time....

** JD Note: wireless in the OCC is included in your registration fee; Portland does have wireless through most of the city, I have had decent experience with it downtown (near Hilton), weather permitting.

YAEA: Yet Another Extra Activity ...

2008-03-07T10:11:00.005-04:00

In keeping with the theme of the Symposium, we are happy to provide a venue for people interested in accessible computing for developing countries (like OLPC, see below) to a FRI meeting at lunchtime -- again, hopefully diversity is one of the results of these projects (there are other, see ClassmatePC) -- JD

++

We invite folks curious about the XO computer and the One Laptop Per Child initiative to join several of us next week at SIGCSE. This is an opportunity for SIGCSE Technical Symposium attendees with projects currently underway on the XO platform to make connections and share stories.

XO/OLPC Shared Experiences
Friday, March 14
Room B111
12-1:30pm

The One Laptop Per Child initiative (http://www.laptop.org/) has created an exciting buzz following its introduction in 2007. In this special event, folks will share experiences with the XO computer thus far. We expect to have at least one XO computer on hand. Among the folks who plan to participate:

Suzanne Buchele, a Fullbright Scholar and Lecturer at Ashesi University in Ghana, who can share first-hand accounts of OLPC on the ground in that country. Suzanne is on both the implementation team and advisory team for OLPC Ghana.
Jill Dimond, a PhD student at Georgia Tech, who is using the XO as the context (i.e., target platform and audience) for Girl Scouts at summer camp to build IM clients. The work is being done using Revolution (http://www.runrev.com) to create an authoring tool for the Girl Scouts; Revolution can produce OLPC executables.
Joe Bergin of Pace University has been porting Karel (python version) to the OLPC and has a running, although not very successful, version.
Vicki Almstrum of The University of Texas at Austin is supervising a distributed team of senior capstone students (5 in Austin, 5 at Amrita University in India) who are creating two projects that target the OLPC. She is also advising GirlStart, a non-profit organization
in Austin, TX, in their IT Girls project, where high school girls are using python to develop educational games for the XO platform.

CS4HS Events at SIGCSE 2008

2008-03-03T19:58:00.007-04:00

Thanks in advance to Tom Cortina (photo right) for organizing the Birds-of-a-Feather sessions at SIGCSE 2008, especially coordinating the transit from the OCC to the Hilton Thursday evening (surely one of the largest CS Unplugged Activities to demonstrate issues in concurrent, asynchronous and distributed processing with autonomous agents :-) -- as a small token of thanks, I am happy to post this announcement about CS4HS, one of Tom's (and CMU's) outreach projects for K-12 computing education (and one of our "extra activities") -- JD

If you're going to be at SIGCSE 2008 in Portland, and you're interested in developing a summer workshop for high school teachers that focuses on the broader areas of computer science beyond computer programming skills, there are several events planned at SIGCSE involving CS4HS, an initiative to give high school teachers (and K-8 computing teachers) material that they can use in their classes to expose their students to the world of computer science beyond Java programming and computer applications. Meet with faculty and staff that have implemented CS4HS workshops and think about starting a workshop at your university or college.

Friday, March 14
Special Session: The Expansion of CS4HS: An Outreach Program for High School Teachers
4:00-5:15PM, B113-114
Hear about planning, implementation and lessons learned from the three CS4HS 2007 workshop leaders at Carnegie Mellon, University of Washington, and UCLA, and discuss how to start your own workshop.

Saturday, March 15
CS4HS Open Meeting
2:45-3:45PM, B119
Planning is underway for 2008. Join us to learn what you need to do to start your own workshop for 2008 or 2009.

CS4HS workshops in 2006 and 2007 have been funded in part by a generous donation from Google. CS4HS workshops also have the support of the Computer Science Teachers Association.

For more information about CS4HS, visit: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/cs4hs

-Tom Cortina, Carnegie Mellon University

Keynote Speakers in the News Recently

2008-02-29T16:27:00.013-04:00

There are less than two weeks until the SIGCSE 2008 Symposium, we on the steering committee are extremely busy with preparations for the conference (attendance over 1,050 already!). There are some important deadlines this coming Saturday, March 1, 2008; in particular, conference registration rates increase about $30, students must register by then in order to volunteer (and earn their registration while connecting with the conference), and our remaining hotels (Paramount and Heathman) conference rates expire. Please, you know you want to go :-), visit our attendance link and make it happen, save some money and help us to prepare!

I have had many opportunities to note our first keynote speaker and SIGCSE Award Winner, Randy Pausch in this blog. I apologize for my delinquency in citing our two other keynote speakers, and remedy that here and now.

Marissa Mayer (photo left) will address the Symposium Friday morning. She is a Vice President of Search Products and User Experience at Google, reportedly the first woman hired there, and involved in many projects (including movie nights!). Most recently, Marissa was interviewed by the Chronicle of Higher Education about products for college students, administration and faculty.

Our luncheon speaker on Saturday is Ed Lazowska, Bill and Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington. Professor Lazowska (pumpkin right :-) has been very active with the NSF/CRA (logo lower left) and was recently interviewed by the CRA News. You might want to check out this interview as it seems to overlap some of the points he might address at SIGCSE 2008.

In fact, I would suggest the entire January issue of CRA news for Dan Reed's comments on research and education, as well as an article on a computer science major for arts and science students at the University of Virginia (note, my CS department resides in a division of natural science at a liberal arts college, go figure ;-).

PS: Happy Leap Day!

The Gender Chip Project

2008-02-25T22:23:00.007-04:00

A few weeks ago, Susan Rodger and I were contacted by Patricia Donohue of the Gender Chip Project, asking about how they could participate, esp. given the theme for SIGCSE 2008. Sadly, the program was set (Thanks again Sue and Mark!), so we found some time during the FRI lunch break (yes, other extra activities are happening then as well, here's the full list so far, and I will try to feature others, but there's only two weeks until the Symposium!).

The Gender Chip Project is excited at being able to host an additional event from 12 noon – 1:45 pm on Friday, March 14th, coordinated with the Symposium. Victoria Bernal will be exploring how we, as technology educators, can use media to inspire dialogue and bring more women into the computer science professions. In this workshop, participants will watch short sections of THE GENDER CHIP PROJECT, the 2006 documentary story that follows a remarkable and persistent group of college women at Ohio State University as they train in engineering, the sciences and the technological fields.

Following the screening, Victoria will present and discuss ways to use the film and accompanying online toolkits and curricula to move viewers from insight to action around issues of gender equity. When presented in a range of public settings—from professional group meetings to college peer clusters and presentations for high school students — THE GENDER CHIP PROJECT provokes deep and wide-ranging conversations among women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, and serves as a springboard to build awareness and affect change at the institutional and policy levels.

For documentary clips:
http://blip.tv/file/87901

For The Gender Chip Project:
http://www.genderchip.org

Crossing a thousand ...

2008-02-23T22:56:00.008-04:00

I have truly enjoyed all parts of the SIGCSE 2008 conference preparations, all the email, the logistics, working with the steering committee, the Board, exhibitors, child care, convention center, hotels, and the ACM staff -- still, it felt really good when, on February 19, 2008, we passed the 1,000 confirmed for registration mark for the Symposium.

I really do not know if we are ahead of behind last year (which was a record setter), but I was just hoping that there would be a substantial and worthwhile number of computing educators and other professionals to make the effort a success -- one just starts asking, "what if we put on a Symposium and nobody came?" -- or "if you build it, will they come?"

Well, clearly, plenty of people saw the CFP and submitted the proposals, the program was announced and the people saw and registered. We have pretty much filled four hotels, and the ACM has worked hard to arrange two more hotels (Thanks, Brooke!); namely, the Paramount and the Heathman, each with a conference rate available until the next registration deadline of March 1 (when rates increase at both the conference and the hotels!).

There is still time to register for the full program, get a nice rate at a great conference hotel, and participate in a wonderful Symposium.

Oh, and I have been tracking weather in Portland, and it does rain all the time through the winter (at least it did this past winter), but I have noticed a few more rain-free days recently; let's hope this trend continues (i.e., I'm sure the heavy stuff won't come down for some time, at least until after SIGCSE 2008 ;-).

Speaking about Diversity ... and Accessibility

2008-02-20T23:53:00.006-04:00

Today I began with a breakfast meeting with my friends Dave and Steven, along with Maria Klawe (photo right), president of Harvey Mudd College; we'll come back to breakfast later.

President Klawe (i.e., Maria :-) visited a Haverford course on HCI the previous night, then a course on Unix and C as well as lunch with students at Bryn Mawr College today, then an afternoon talk about the issues of gender and computing where Maria had students engaged and asking questions for 45 minutes (after the 60 minute lecture). I got the distinct impression that Maria's words had particular impact on the women in the audience, especially the students. I know I have much to learn about diversity*, but I do feel I have a better sense now than when the day began ...

.. and it began with a nice breakfast, where Maria and I had a very enlightening (for me) conversation about research in accessible computing, assistive technologies, and I discovered Brainfingers. I came for the discussion about diversity, and left with insights into accessibility. Clearly, diversity and accessibility can be connected, and that's what I learned today -- Thanks, Maria.

I look forward to the SIGCSE 2008 conference, where I can continue these conversations with all of you -- register soon, and get your hotel room, they seem to be going fast (we've virtually sold out four hotels, two more added).
--
* I do not believe this is an example of "impostor syndrome"

Another Committee on Computing Education

2008-02-13T22:21:00.010-04:00

SIGCSE 2008 is now just a month away, and we can hardly wait. In the meantime, the world of computing education continues on, adapting and re-examining issues from curriculum to the numbers of computing students in the pipeline.

I discovered today in a blog entry by Computing Research Association chair Dan Reed of Microsoft that the CRA has decided that the apparent declines in enrollments (and other issues, he has an interesting metaphor of computing education as an onion, like Shrek :-) have become important enough to address with the formation of a committee. CRA-E "... seeks to understand how the broad computing community needs to move forward in order to develop principles and philosophy underlying the computing education of the future." This committee will be led by Andries (Andy) van Dam (photo right) of Brown University (and advisor of 2008 SIGCSE award winner Randy Pausch).

This CRA-E committee seems to be similar in mission to the newly formed ACM Educational Policy Committee (EPC) discussed in a previous blog entry which will make its initial public presentation at SIGCSE 2008 as a panel session. As I stated previously, committees seem to be the bureaucratic response to a problem, but the issues are there, and any and all efforts to address these issues need to be supported (or at least heard).

AccessComputing Mini-Grant ...

2008-02-06T20:04:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note here, I received a notice of a mini-grant funding opportunity that seems very relevant to the theme of SIGCSE 2008 -- thanks to Jane Prey for the notice, and good luck to all -- JD

==

Due March 14: Mini Grants for Computing Events

Since February 2006, the Alliance for Access to Computing Careers (AccessComputing) has contributed funds to support computing-related activities, training, and experiential learning opportunities nationwide. Ultimately, our goal is to increase the number of people with disabilities successfully pursuing computing careers.

I'm hoping to receive proposals for up to $4000 of funding for direct expenses for AccessComputing activities for students with disabilities in 2008. Proposals should be submitted by March 14, 2008. The application format is included at the end of this message.

Consider seeking funding to support:

(1) an existing computing event in order to attract/involve students with disabilities (check with your computing/engineering department and see if they already have something going on that you could develop a mini-program for students with disabilities; for example, we have exhibits, speakers, and other activities regarding disability issues as part of our more
general UW Engineering Open House) or

(2) a stand-alone new event to attract and support students with disabilities in computing fields.

Would you like to submit a proposal?
Just put it in the following format and submit it to sherylb@u.washington.edu by March 14, 2008.

AccessComputing Mini-grant Event Proposal

Event Title:
Event Date(s):
Event Location:
Event Director:

Event Objective(s) and Outcome(s)
How will your event promote the interest, participation, and/or success of individuals with disabilities in computing careers?

Event Description
How will your event accomplish these objectives (including draft agenda and expected number of participants)?
Event Budget
For what expenses do you request funding from the AccessComputing Alliance? (for example, travel expenses for a speaker, refreshments for
participants, facility rental, printed materials; we do not cover salaries
of regular staff; we may cover a student salary if that student has a
disability; note that if your proposal is approved, AccessComputing staff
will arrange to cover expenses directly [e.g., airfare for a guest speaker] rather than provide grant funds for you to disperse)

Event Management, Support Staff, and Timeline
Who will do what and when to publicize the event, implement the activity, and evaluate the results?

Event Evaluation
How will you know you have accomplished the objectives (for example, evaluation forms, observations, interviews), especially documenting increased interest and/or pursuit of computing on the part of students with disabilities?

February made me shiver ...

2008-02-03T00:55:00.001-04:00

... from one of my favorite songs (and yes, I know all the words _and_ chords) -- SIGCSE 2008 registration is proceeding smoothly (or at least the registration team is handling all the details very well). The main reason to register early is price (save $30-50); also note that SIGCSE membership ($25/year) saves $60 on the registration fee. I also ask you to consider "opting-in" during the registration process so that some of our supporters can be in touch, it's not much to ask considering their substantial contributions (some for decades, some we welcome for the first time).

And please look to encourage students to register and volunteer, and to contact our student volunteer chairs, Dan Garcia and Jeff Forbes -- it's a great deal on price and a fantastic opportunity.

Another reason to register early is to help us in our counts (and estimates of trends) for such things as meals, breaks, and proceedings (and if you really want a paper copy!). Less waste means more funds for the conference and for other SIGCSE projects. Early registration closes Feb 12 ...

... just around the time that the conference hotels will expect attendees to have made their reservations. We were hopeful that the lodgings would be suitable, but we were very surprised at how quickly the Red Lion and the Inn at the Convention Center filled. There are still rooms available at the final conference hotel, the Portland Hilton, and ACM has helped us to add a fourth, the Benson Hotel. Please take time soon to make these reservations so you can have the lodgings that work for you for the Symposium, _and_ we can see if we need to get started on yet another hotel -- a nice problem to have :-).

I also have to let you know that members of the program committee are very busy putting final approval on many of the materials you expect to have available (proceedings, advanced program, website, workshops). It is much work done by dedicated people.

Furthermore, I have to compliment them on the content of the Symposium again, I am still discovering how many great papers and other presentations we have, and how many really addressed the theme. I found myself constantly needing to stop reading for understanding and just get the stuff proofread! I thought we would have some papers on gender issues and a few on teaching students who have disabilities; rather, we have papers on culture, global issues, cross-country perspectives, even service learning projects near and far.

Happy Groundhog's Day!

--
Also, as we all prepare to travel to Portland, I just want to note this previous post about the restaurants, and that I just discovered another article about the wine country via bicycle.

A Brief Discussion on Safety in Portland

2008-01-24T23:47:00.000-04:00

Hello from Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC -- and not much warmer than Philadelphia in January :-).

The SIGCSE 2008 team has been quite busy now that registration is open and the conference is just weeks away. Tony Clear, our International Liaison, noted that all visitors to the conference would benefit from information about safety and security in Portland around the Oregon Convention Center and the conference hotels. Yeah, a bit uncomfortable to think about, until you consider the alternative ....

So, Tammy VanDeGrift, our Local Arrangements Chair, provided some guidance that I'll share here -- this is not to replace such things as awareness, traveling in groups, and commonsense.

+++

Here are the "safe" places near downtown and the convention center:

Downtown: Close to the hotel is safe
The waterfront is safe (park along the river for walking/jogging)
Shopping district is safe (near Pioneer Place)
Pearl District is safe (lots of condos, cafes, restaurants, the "newest" yuppie part of downtown)

Convention Center: Close to convention center is safe
Near Lloyd Center (shopping mall) is safe during mall hours (closes at 9 PM)
Along Broadway and Weidler Streets is safe during shopping hours (until 9 PM)

Less safe areas (at night):
MLK Blvd, Williams, Vancouver Streets (north of convention center)
East side of river (near OMSI)
Chinatown (downtown), lots of homeless shelters nearby - may not be unsafe, but pan-handling could be distracting
Under the Burnside Bridge (homeless camps at night)
Gresham (along MAX stops, but this town is a suburb and I doubt anyone would venture out here)

Portland is generally a safe place, with very few incidents. I have never felt uncomfortable walking around at night downtown, but I would suggest that people walk with at least one other person

+++

For the record, Susan and I have visited Portland without incident -- we walked across the Burnside Bridge one evening and did pass a number of homeless, so we will just take the MAX or walk another bridge in the future.

Why is it still (mostly) a dream?

2008-01-21T19:57:00.000-04:00

Hey, when your theme involves diversity, it is almost mandated that your comment in your blog on Martin Luther King Day (a new blog protocol) -- today I did not start teaching the spring term for the first time since I have worked at Haverford College, a place famous for its Quaker roots and mission of social justice -- well, better late than never, perhaps now they will work on giving us a day of reflection for Labor Day! (to all my Haver-Colleagues, I have an explanation at the end of this post.)

Tonight I watched the end of the News Hour where they broadcast some of Dr. King's speech from the Lincoln Memorial -- I had to tell my six-year old son that before he was born they used black and white film; I then realized that it was not before I was born :-(. Fighting, arguing, promoting diversity may have been "needed" in 1963, but it's 2008 -- why is it in the theme for SIGCSE 2008? I mean, it's like promoting chocolate (which we did at SIGCSE 2007; what will they have this year for SIGCSE 2009?) -- who could be against chocolate, or music, or romance, or puppies, or music for romance between puppies, ... or diversity?

Well, there are many reasons I'm sure, but what comes to mind as a computer scientist is that we also want great software, and I know why that is often hard to produce (or to teach how to produce). I have yet to meet anyone overtly against diversity; I believe I have met many people inadvertently contributing to the obstacles (and yes, including me). My favorite observation regarding diversity goes something like this:

the majority of people are for equality, or equal access (i.e., diversity)
the majority of people believe equality already exists
the majority of people see that certain groups are not as "successful" as other groups
thus they conclude (you pick .... laziness, not as competent, lack of skill)

After I heard this observation for a Haver-Colleague, I started thinking about how many times I must have been guilty of this way of thinking when a student "failed" in my course -- not all the time, maybe (hopefully) not even the majority of the time, but it is likely non-zero.

I did, as many did when diversity in computing rose into our consciousness, read Margolis and Fisher, I added more group work, I explored alternatives to "contests" -- I am presently reading "She's Such a Geek" by Newitz and Anders, and all I can think is, "How much more can I learn given my background and history?" -- and I have not even started with racial, cultural, other types of diversity to consider!

I am hoping that organizations like NCWIT, ACM-W, CRA-W, and the CDC (and others?) will be at SIGCSE 2008, and so should you! Well if you have questions, answers, passions about diversity in computing, please be sure to attend SIGCSE 2008 and really participate -- I hope I was able to convey some substance, felt like some rambling -- and that was diversity, stay tuned for accessibility (my other dream) :-).

===

Oh, you are welcome to view this Daily Show interview relating to issues of race and diversity in other venues; warning, sense of humor suggested before clicking.

Web Accessibility and Global Competitiveness

2008-01-18T21:03:00.000-04:00

There are too many concurrent events happening with SIGCSE 2008 that I now find myself often stuck between the classic "fish or cut bait" -- something my brothers loved as they took their time fishing (not me, I hate fishing). Conference registration is open online, so please register soon, and consider a set of workshops, many offered to help educators get the most out of their time.

Perhaps more importantly, visit our conference hotels page and make your reservation at one of the three hotels -- it seems that rooms are going quickly at the Red Lion and the Inn at the Convention Center, and the Portland Hilton is filling as well -- the ACM and the SIGCSE 2008 chairs have been in contact with these hotels weekly, and are working to make more space (and it's still early!) -- also, the sooner we fill, the sooner we can make the case for more hotel space for the attendees.

Also, the Kids' Camp will run, which is great for the kids! Thanks to Pam Cutter for diving in the deep end and providing this service.

But back to the topic -- today I saw an announcement that multiple groups in the ACM believe, basically, that increasing awareness of the need for web accessibility is a good thing -- OK, they said "global competitiveness," a nice incentive to make the web a tool that as many people as possible could use. The stat that stood out to me was, "97 percent of Web sites [were found to be] failing some basic accessibility requirements." Seriously, I was surprised that 3% passed.

Accessible teaching in any discipline is challenging because students are so diverse; there needs range across multiple spectra. Plus, even when the needs are pretty well defined, it is hard to develop the right supports (consider the issues in SW engineering for mainstream customers; now try for someone who may not be able to convey all the details!). Same for accessible websites -- I learn more each time I attend something like SIGCSE (or ITiCSE, CCSC).

The usual suspects were in the press release: SIGACCESS, SIGCHI, SIGWEB, and even CSTA signed on. Hopefully after SIGCSE 2008 and ITiCSE 2007 the ACM will consider SIGCSE for such releases in the future.

In any event, all efforts to increase such awareness are needed, and perhaps the discussion at SIGCSE 2008 will provide even more motivation.

Symposium Registration Open

2008-01-08T15:24:00.000-04:00

SIGCSE 2008 REGISTRATION OPEN - Kids Registration Deadline Jan 10

1) SIGCSE 2008 Registration is open! Early Registration closes Feb. 12!
2) CS Kids 4 Fun - Register by Jan 10!
3) Make your Hotel Reservation by Feb 11! Last year hotels filled early.
4) Sign up for one of our 38 workshops.
5) Consider coming early to attend a pre-conference event on Wednesday.

More details below.

We look forward to seeing you at SIGCSE 2008 on March 12-15, 2008 in Portland, Oregon -- Susan & J.D.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

1) We are pleased to announce that SIGCSE 2008 registration is now open.

See the Attendees page at: http://www.cs.duke.edu/sigcse08/

Note that early registration closes Feb. 12!

2) CS Kids 4 Fun - Register by Jan 10!

We have an exciting program for kids ages 6 months-12 with a kids camp with CS activities for older kids. Contact Pam Cutter if you have questions.

http://www.cs.duke.edu/sigcse08/childcare.html

You must register by Jan 10!

3) Make your Hotel reservations by Feb. 11!

There are three options for hotels. The Red Lion and the Inn at the Convention Center are beside the convention center.

The Hilton is the Conference Hotel and the location of BOFs and the Thursday night reception. The Hilton is one block from the free MAX lightrail that will drop you off in front of the convention center. The Hilton is very close to nice shops and restaurants, including Powell's
books.

Note that hotel reservations have filled quickly at past SIGSEs, so don't delay in making your reservation.

4) Consider signing up for one of our 38 workshops! Workshops are available Wednesday and Friday evenings, and Saturday afternoon.

5) Consider arriving early to attend a pre-conference event on Wednesday.

Information on these events is on the conference home page.

Look forward to seeing you in Portland!

Susan Rodger & J.D. Dougherty

As the new year begins ...

2008-01-07T23:43:00.000-04:00

... so we on the SIGCSE 2008 steering committee get ready for such landmark events as the opening of conference registration, our first CS 4 Fun Kids' Camp onsite, more news about our keynotes (e.g., Randy Pausch will appear briefly in the next Star Trek Movie), ...

Some news stories for those interested in computing education and in our theme(s) -- it has been reported that the NSF Launches Mentoring Program for Minority Students via the EL Alliance at Rice University; more information available here.

Also, THE Journal has a quick story about Scratch -- I should try this application, I have seen a few talks at past SIGCSEs, and I'd like to compare it to the other applications like media computation and Alice.

Stay tuned for more news, and please check the website as well for details about the Symposium and about Portland -- I just like the included photo with the Oregon Convention Center in the foreground.

CS Kids 4 Fun Schedule set ...

2008-01-03T16:16:00.000-04:00

SIGCSE 2008 will not only host the technical symposium for computing education, but will also be a neat place to be a kid -- Pam Cutter has organized a great set of activities for children 6 months - 12 years old, many involve computers (Alice, Scratch), some computing (CS unplugged) and others just fun (scavenger hunt). Here's Pam's announcement from today, with a few links that you should check.

Kids attending CS Kids 4 Fun are welcome to attend the SIGCSE Reception on Thursday evening (as long as the parent(s) have paid for the reception!).

As we have noted before, this is the first time such a program has been tried at SIGCSE, and we plan to bring 2 kids each! -- Susan and J.D.

Are your kids as interested in CS as you are? Do they like to play around with computers? Do they hate it when you go on fun trips without them? Bring them to CS Kids 4 Fun at SIGCSE 2008 this March! Even if they're not computer geniuses, CS Kids 4 Fun promises to be a lot of fun for them.

We have contracted with Kiddie Corp to provide the onsite daycare for kids ages 6 months-12 years and will be using student volunteers to help with a variety of CS activities, including Scratch, Alice, and CS Unplugged. All the details may be found at http://www.cs.duke.edu/sigcse08/childcare.html. Registration for CS Kids 4 Fun is now open! Hurry - advance registration ends January 10 and we must have at least 12 children registered by that time in order to run the program.

Contact Pam.Cutter@kzoo.edu if you have questions/comments.

Shamrock Run and SIGCSE 2008

2007-12-28T12:53:00.000-04:00

Susan Rodger and I, along with the entire steering committee and people from the City of Portland, OR have been working to put together SIGCSE 2008, and some of these efforts have been chronicled here in the Blog -- we also strongly encourage activities in conjunction with this conference -- hey, we'll all be together in a wonderful city, and we should get the most out of the time there!

In this vein, Owen Astrachan of Duke University has found a benefit race || run || fun walk on the Sunday morning right after the conference concludes. Known as the Shamrock Run, it provides another way to see Portland, to exercise and to support a noble cause.

To encourage participation, provide a sense of team (and save a few dollars :-), Owen recommends signing-up using the following team name and "leader":

name of the group: sigcse
leader of the group: owen

Use lowercase letters only: sigcse and owen

I have received permission from my boss* to run (actually, jog carefully :-). So please consider joining a few other SIGCSE people, even if just to cheer on the runners, perhaps we can all meet at the finish line for a photo (maybe the starting line would be a better idea). Thanks to Owen for getting the word out.

And please keep you eyes and mind open to other ideas to bring to our attention that might help make SIGCSE 2008 a memorable and successful event.
---
* my lovely wife Ellen

Sex, Computing and Achievement

2007-12-19T18:01:00.000-04:00

So, I came across this article in Scientific American entitled, "Sex, Math and Scientific Achievement," with the subtitle, "Why do men dominate the fields of science, engineering and mathematics?"

First, I am glad to have been directed to the article by the ACM TechNews Service (that I wish would direct other computing professionals to SIGCSE 2008 -- hint, hint :-). Second, I am happy that the topic does directly address the Symposium theme regarding both diversity and accessibility, as well as (cap)abilities in the larger sense. And finally, I am glad they used "Sex" in the title so I could use it with some cover, and hopefully get more attention to the Symposium ;-). Not controversial enough -- sorry :-(.

I plan to re-read this substantive article, but the quick/incomplete summary goes like this:

women talk gooder and are better at ... I think it's something about remembering
men are better with what they can see, move and measure (perhaps a diagram would help, see right)
intervention studies are still in their infancy but suggest both sexes can benefit from targeted training to improve their skill set

This final observation pertains most directly to the goals of the Symposium.

It seems that the motivation for this work involved a certain former Harvard president and his comments in 2005 at a small conference on economics. One of my favorites quotes from the article talked about the belief that differences between the skill sets for each sex are "mutable," and thus education matters:

Indeed, if training and experience did not make a difference in the development of our academic skills, universities such as Harvard would be accepting tuition from students under false pretenses.

There are some interesting observations about girls and boys where they are equally skilled on average but not "equally distributed" (my quotes) in mathematical ability. There are many other observations, including my other favorite quote:

Of course, even if you’re smart, you might not want to be a scientist.

Please note that I am pulling some items that caught my eye, but there are very many important points to discuss; for example, stereotypical bias in hiring and evaluation. I urge all SIGCSE 2008 attendees to find time to review, and I invite you to a conversation at one of the few coffee shops in Portland, my schedule permitting -- I am sure Susan Rodger will cover for me ....

December Announcements

2007-12-06T22:06:00.000-04:00

In case you missed these SIGCSE 2008 announcements from Dec 3 .. compliments of Susan Rodger.

1. SIGCSE online program is now available!

PDFs of papers, panels, special sessions, workshops, Bofs and Posters
are now all available on the SIGCSE 2008 website.

Click on "Attendees" and then "Program at a Glance".

2. Paper Registration is available, online registration coming...

On the "Attendees" page, a paper registration form is available (pdf).
Online registration should be available soon.

Note the Early registration deadline is February 12! Rates are same as SIGCSE 2007 rates!

3. Online Registration for "CS Kids 4 Fun" care open - deadline Jan 10!

New this year we are offering onsite childcare/camp, "CS Kids 4 Fun",
for kids ages 6 months-12 years. We have contracted with "Kiddie Corp"
to provide the onsite daycare and will be using student volunteers to
do the CS activities (Alice, Scratch, CS Unplugged, etc.)

Contact Pam.Cutter@kzoo.edu if you have questions/comments.

4. Student Volunteers - Registration open - Encourage students to apply

Please encourage students to apply to be student volunteers. In exchange
for a few hours of service, they get free student registration.

New this year, some of them can spend those volunteer hours to
do fun CS activities with the older kids in our onsite
"CS Kids 4 Fun" daycare/camp.

5. Hotels - Comparisons and Why you should register in our SIGCSE block

We have three hotels listed on our web site and ask that you register
through our website or call and give the ACM Code listed for each hotel
to get the SIGCSE rate specified on our web pages.

Why should you register in the SIGCSE block instead of searching for
another rate through another provider?

Because the conference benefits by filling up our block at this rate (keeping overall costs low so we can keep registration as low as possible! -- J.D.).
We have several types of rates from $129/night to $96/night. Also consider the Roommate Database (link on our Attendees page) to find a roommate to cut costs.

6. Sign up for a Workshop on Wed, Fri or Sat evenings.

Consider signing up for one of our 38 offered workshops.
All workshop descriptions are available in the online program, and from the Attendees Page.
Workshop fees are the same rate as SIGCSE 2007!

7. Many Pre-conference events on Wednesday, March 12 -

Before making your plane reservations, consider coming Tuesday night
to take advantage of one of the pre-workshops during the day on
Wednesday, March 12.

See the SIGCSE 2008 home page for more information on
Wednesday pre-workshops.

a. Microsoft Pre-workshop on CS1/2 on XBOX console

TITLE: Developing CS1/2 Programming Assignments on the XBOX 360 Console

INSTRUCTOR: Prof. Kelvin Sung, Associate Professor, Computing and
Software, Systems University of Washington (Bothell)

This workshop is all day Wednesday til 5pm.

b. BlueJay/Greenfoot half-day pre-workshop

This workshop is for both beginners and experienced and will
be presented by the Bluejay and Greenfoot teams.

This half-day workshop is 1-5pm on Wednesday.

c. Pre-Workshop on Data Depository for Computing-Education Research

This full day workshop is being presented by Kate Sanders, Brad
Richards, and Jan Mostrom, and runs from 9am-6pm (with dinner 6-7).

d. Roundtable for Department Chairs (PDF download)

Register for this event in the SIGCSE registration. This is an all day event.

e. Doctoral Consortium

The Doctoral Consortium for PhD students continues. This is an all day event. Registration is closed.

Again, we hope to see many of you in Portland in March!

Susan and JD

ACM creates Education Policy Committee

2007-12-05T18:12:00.001-04:00

More news today, and more topics for discussion at SIGCSE 2008 -- the ACM announced today a new committee to explore ways "to improve opportunities for quality education in computing and computer science." This announcement coincided (on purpose) with an announcement of the results of the 2006 Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA).

Well, just when I thought I had enough to keep abreast about in computing education -- fortunately, the first public appearance of the ACM EPC* will be a panel discussion at SIGCSE 2008, entitled "An Open Dialogue Concerning the State of Education Policy in Computer Science," with the session moderated by Robert B. Schnabel (photo left), Dean of the Indiana University School of Informatics and recently appointed Chair of the ACM EPC. By the way, as symposium chair I call "dibbs" on the doorway between this panel session and "Nifty Assignments" ;-).

From my quick read, the goals of the EPC overlap substantially with SIGCSE and other organization like CSTA, CCSC and SIGITE. Personally (but in a professional way), I applaud this effort as many of us at the undergraduate and graduate level believe (albeit mostly anecdotally) that many of the issues that arise involving enrollments occur outside of the university, and with the right support we could all benefit from a more coordinated approach.

On the other hand, there is the old saw that when there's a problem perceived, form another committee ... :-( -- the EPC will only be able to make real impact with some informed discussion and support to implement the recommendations (sounds familiar to me).

Just another reason to meet us all in Portland in March for SIGCSE 2008.
__

* just a warning, our campus uses EPC for its Educational Policy Committee and I already have enough confusion in my life :-)

A Fine Pair of Fellows ...

2007-12-05T15:44:00.001-04:00

The ACM has just announced its list of 2007 ACM Fellows, and two names stand out for computing education in general, and for SIGCSE 2008, particularly the keynotes (see below).

Eric Roberts of Stanford University (photo left) has served the SIGCSE community for many years, spearheading such important (and gi-normous*) projects as Computing Curricula 2001 and the ACM Java Task Force (with my co-chair Susan Rodger). Eric received the 2003 SIGCSE Award in Reno, Nevada (where I recall his keynote did address diversity issues in computing education). Rumor has it that Eric taught a computing course for non-majors at Stanford that included Marissa Mayer, one of the SIGCSE 2008 keynotes -- clearly, Eric made the course more than accessible.

SIGCSE 2008 treasurer Scott Grissom told me about a game played at a past SIGCSE where each person names the most famous person who knows you by name -- Eric purportedly started with Bill Gates of Microsoft (yes, the "of Microsoft" part is unnecessary, but ...), but then added Condoleezza Rice of Stanford and "other stuff" -- when it was his turn to name a famous person who knows him, Scott wisely chose Eric Roberts.

The second new ACM Fellow connected (directly) to SIGCSE 2008 is none other than Randy Pausch of CMU (photo right). You can visit previous posts here or here or here to get Randy's background and his bittersweet, very emotional story. Randy will provide the opening keynote address at SIGCSE 2008; we are hoping this keynote is provided in person. Just to be complete, Randy has received the 2008 SIGCSE Award and the 2007 Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award as well.

On behalf of SIGCSE, well done to both Fellows.
___

* so big a project I had to squeeze "gigantic" and "enormous" into one adjective :-)

Child Care / Kid Camps announced ...

2007-11-16T20:34:00.000-04:00

Finally! We (mostly Susan and Pam, see below) have been exploring an on site child care center and kid camp for SIGCSE 2008 for a few weeks (it was noted on the conference homepage and attendees page) -- details below in Susan's announcement to the SIGCSE listserv, but I am excited at extending the notion of a "SIGCSE Family" to be more inclusive than it already is -- also, I should emphasize that "on site" really means "on site"; the camp will be on the same level of the OCC as the meetings and exhibits (but secluded enough to not disturb meetings ;-).

New at SIGCSE 2008 this year, we are in the process of finalizing details for onsite childcare and kid CS camp during the conference, for ages 6 months-12 years (contact us if there is interest in kids older).

DEADLINE for applications: January 10, 2008!

We need to have at least 12 kids signed up by January 10 to guarantee this program. If there is low enrollment, then we may need to cancel.

Here are some of the details for what we are planning. More details and online applications will be available in the next few weeks.

We are contracting with a professional provider who provides onsite care at conferences. (similar to Kids Chi Camp at SIGCHI or the childcare at Grace Hopper). The daycare/kid's camp will be one of the meeting rooms at the convention center, but will be transformed into a fun place for kids.

Younger kids will participate in drama, play, and arts and crafts type activities. As part of the care, older kids can participate in our CS kids activities. We are investigating activities such as CS Unplugged, Scratch, Alice, etc. Student Volunteers will help with the CS activities.

Daycare provider ratios will be 1:2 for kids ages 6 months-11 months, 1:3 for kids 1 to 2 years old, and 1:5 for ages 3-12. Student volunteers for the CS activities will be additional helpers and are not included in this ratio.

Daycare will be provided during the main sessions from

Thursday, March 13 8am-1pm, 1pm-6pm (whole, half day options)
Friday, March 14 8am-1pm, 1pm-6pm (whole, half day options)
Saturday, March 15 8-4pm

This care will be subsidized and you pay for a whole or half session at the rate of

$6/hr for ages 3-12, and
$7/hr for ages 6 months-2yr.

We hope to send out more information when our application goes online.

CONTACT: Pam Cutter, Pam.Cutter@kzoo.edu, will be our Childcare/Camp Arrangements contact. Please contact her if you have any questions, ideas, or concerns.

We hope this subsidized daycare/camp will make SIGCSE more accessible to our attendees. We both hope to bring our kids to SIGCSE 2008 to participate in this new experience for kids.

Susan and JD

Accessibility in the News today ...

2007-11-14T16:38:00.000-04:00

Accessibility involving computing has been quite a topic in the news today. I will just highlight a few noteworthy examples here, not all of which involve education but can be argued provide the potential to increase the diversity of the user population of computing (hint: diversity and accessibility are connected by more than the theme of SIGCSE 2008 :-).

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette has a nice story about the new Quality of Life Technology Center shared between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.
A group of researchers from JHU, CCNY, Northwestern and the University of Maryland-College Park are working on a surface to facilitate a tactile interface for users with vision impairment.
Science Daily reports on an IBM project to develop a system that can be manipulated by thought (honest).
And of course, production has begun on the OLPC device (XO), which has also been a topic recently on the SIGCSE listserv.

Providing a low-cost computing device to make information and the Internet more accessible -- who could argue with that? Well, apparently, there is competition in this area.

I am not an economist, so I am not going to comment on the relative merits of such competition. But as a teacher, I think the discussion itself has merit in computing education, especially when we read about the anticipated high demand for computer science people (or "High-demand employment requires high-caliber education") and the benefits such access can provide to all, including those in developing countries (yes, there are consequences too, which is why the discussion is non-trivial).

And clearly accessibility is not limited to those with mobility, vision or hearing issues either. I would be happy to be involved with a SIGCSE conference that facilitated discussion(s) on access around the world, the issues that arise across cultures and political systems, legality, social impact -- hey, I work at a liberal arts college, and I believe computing has much to offer these discussions.

Still, the resources (time, space, energy, pages) at a SIGCSE conference are limited, no matter how many "threads of discussion" are processing. I look forward to learning about initiatives to provide low-cost computing around the globe, and SIGCSE 2008 can be one of the places where I learn more about this topic.

Villanova in the Fall …

2007-11-13T00:19:00.000-04:00

Last Friday, computing educators in the Greater Philadelphia Area, also known as the Delaware Valley, gathered at the Conference Center at Villanova University just west of Philadelphia, PA USA (hey, blogs are international :-). Our hosts, Boots Cassel of VU and Manuel Perez-Quinones of VT, used funding from their NSF-CPATH grant to arrange this meeting. All participants submitted background information, current projects and future endeavors from which a tentative agenda was gleaned.

We all met on a crisp autumn day (the colors were astounding!), and immediately got down to work over breakfast. After a sequence of substantial introductions, the floor was open for discussion. We talked about perceptions, priorities, goals, practicalities, diversity and motivations involved in computing education. Other efforts from other disciplines were noted (including Eric Mazur’s work in concept physics at Harvard).

Before we knew it, it was lunchtime -- more food, and more conversation. The afternoon went by as rapidly as the morning, though Boots was able to at least list and reminder everyone of the agenda items. We discussed discovery learning, virtual worlds and robotics, kinesthetic learning and PBSL, whatever came into the stream of the discussion among motivated people. I then realized that our hosts were also demonstrating some of these forms of learning in practice that day: we held loosely to an agenda, we facilitated and provided with surroundings conducive to activity, and then set off to explore. We had lived the ideal, and I was renewed once again, looking forward to returning to Haverford to see if I could implement some of these strategies.

I recall feeling that I was experiencing one of my favorite parts of the SIGCSE conference; namely, the ongoing discussion towards a set of goals, some immediate, some longer term. I believe that this meeting was made more effective because the majority of participants were “SIGCSE regulars” – and the rest of the people were constantly reminded that they should attend SIGCSE soon. I was able to distribute about 30-40 roses as reminders of the City of Portland, OR, home of SIGCSE 2008. I look forward to progress reports and more lively chat (in the real world :-) in a few months at the Oregon Convention Center.

NCWIT report from Seattle

2007-11-10T14:56:00.000-04:00

This Blog post is contributed by my esteemed co-chair Susan Rodger -- it took me a few days to post it into this Blog, but I do believe it is worth the brief wait -- the goals of NCWIT line up well with those of SIGCSE in general, and SIGCSE 2008 in particular -- Enjoy, J.D.

I just got back from my first NCWIT meeting held in Seattle, Washington. NCWIT stands for National Center for Women & Information Technology. They have been meeting since May 2005, and Duke has been a member, but this is my first time in attending. There were 200-300 people attending, all dedicated to increasing interest in IT.

As I saw at the meeting, NCWIT has been very active in producing many products to attract women to IT. For example, they have created Program-in-a-Box programs to provide all the materials you need for a presentation on a topic such as outreach. The "box" is actually just online resources, easily accessible.

An example is "Outreach-In-A-Box: Discovering IT"

This box has lots of materials to help provide you with an outreach presentation to a middle school including sample letters to introduce yourself to the school, activites you can do with kids, presentation slides, and a tech brochure.

The NCWIT meeting had a practices workshop for all the attendees that was held at Microsoft and included two Keynote speakers. Curt Coffman, the author of the best-seller First Break All the Rules gave a very lively talk on attracting and engaging talented people with many great suggestions. The second keynote speaker was Evelynn Hammonds from Harvard who spoke about rationale for diversity in science and technology.

NCWIT has several alliances, Academic, K-12, Workforce and Entreprenurial. As part of the meeting the individual alliances meet. Duke is a member of the Acadmic Alliance. This alliance met to discuss issues on recruiting, curriculum, and climate.

As part of every NCWIT meeting, there is an awards ceremony for recognizing young women at the high-school level for their computing-related achievements and interests. On the second day of NCWIT, the awards ceremony was held at the University of Washington.

If you are not a member of NCWIT, consider joining one of the alliances. They have two meetings a year and have created an enormous amount of resources for diversity in the pipeline at all levels.

NCWIT will be attending SIGCSE 2008, so stop by and talk to NCWIT representatives to find out more about the NCWIT meetings and alliances.

-- Susan

2008 SIGCSE Awards Announced

2007-11-04T16:02:00.000-04:00

Just last week we discovered the names of the 2008 SIGCSE Awards, and I am proud to be chair of the conference where these awards will be presented.

The SIGCSE Award is presented to the person who has made a substantial and lasting impact on computing education. Randy Pausch (photo left), a name most recently posted here in this Blog, is the 2008 recipient for his contributions, especially the Alice virtual world environment for introducing many potential computing students to the wonderful world of programming. And in Alice, it can be as wonderful, rich, visual and musical a world as the creativity of the student can provide.

For example, I have used Alice in a CS0 course at Haverford, and been surprised at the range of students that are engaged by this tool. If you have Alice installed (Windows or Windows; Linux is a challenge ;-), you're invited to download and hear Charles Babbage sing Karaoke (13 Mb) by one of my CS majors (yes, he started in CS0 and switched to CS1, ...).

The 2008 recipient of the SIGCSE Award for Lifetime Service is Dennis J. Frailey (photo right) of Raytheon and of Southern Methodist University. Dennis has also made many contributions to SIGCSE, but I have seen his ideas shared during discussions of the "math-thinking" discussion group hosted by Doug Baldwin and championed by people like Peter Henderson.

On behalf of the SIGCSE 2008 steering committee, our sincere congratulations, we are now even more excited about the upcoming symposium in Portland.

I do recommend checking here and at the SIGCSE 2008 website, there is much preparation underway, and with the BOF/poster deadlines tomorrow, there will likely be more than I have time for (nicely ending with a split infinitive & a preposition ;-).

CDC Hosts Academic Workshop

2007-10-30T21:32:00.000-03:00

No, not the Centers for Disease Control, this is the Coalition to Diversify Computing (and a more appropriate group for this Blog :-) -- CDC is a group that works to promote diversity across many dimensions in computing; a group that we hope will participate at SIGCSE 2008.

Their next project is a workshop -- in their words: "The goal of the workshop is to mentor underrepresented assistant- and associate-level faculty and senior doctoral students about the tenure and promotion processes in academia."

The workshop takes place at the end of Nov into Dec 2007 in Texas, but the deadline to apply is close, Nov 9, 2007 -- start there, end up in Portland in March 2008!

-- Details:
Friday, November 30, 2007 - Sunday, December 2, 2007
Hilton Hotel in College Station, Texas
http://www.cdc-computing.org/programs.html
Deadline for Participant Applications - Friday, November 9, 2007
Contact Valerie Taylor, vet3@cs.tamu.edu

Doctoral Consortium: replanting the garden

2007-10-29T23:04:00.000-03:00

Hey, I like the title, esp. when I recall the metaphor of "eating our seed corn" a few years ago during the dot-com boom -- the annual SIGCSE Doctoral Consortium always gets rave reviews from both participants and discussants, and the deadline for application is just a week away, click here for more information, and/or contact Josh and Donald directly.

From Josh, the aims of the Doctoral Consortium are:

To offer a friendly forum for students to discuss their work and receive constructive feedback so as to advance each student's research.
To provide relevant information on issues important to doctoral candidates.
To nurture a community of researchers in computing education.

The Consortium is designed for students currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program. The Consortium allows participants to interact with established university researchers in computing education (the discussants) and with other PhD students, and to reflect -- through short activities, information sessions, and discussions -- on the process and lessons of research and life in academia.

Rambling home from PDX again ...

2007-10-20T22:37:00.000-03:00

The initial post to this blog was made two months ago from the lovely Portland, Oregon airport (PDX), also the site of this post. The program committee for SIGCSE 2008 has been working hard to put together a comprehensive set of paper presentations, panels, special sessions and workshops to address the important issues in computing education from around the world. There are still some logistics to resolve, but we are optimistic that the schedule will be made public by the end of October 2007 (as planned). Again, I am amazed (for the 4th time) with how many people contribute submissions, reviews and sheer energy in processing these materials, persisting through many tough decisions as the schedule is never long enough to include all the material we really want to include.

So, while sitting in PDX (with great free wireless -- hear that PHL???), I discovered that President Bush proclaimed October 2007 as National Disability Employment Awareness Month -- I read through the White House press release, and I know that the President was too busy to compose it himself, but most of the proclamation seems reasonable -- I certainly agree that "It is important that we continue to expand on these opportunities [ADA] for Americans with disabilities by eliminating the barriers and false perceptions that hinder them from joining the workforce."

Who could argue with that goal? What I would like to concentrate on are the actual means to realize true accessibility, and since my expertise lies in computing education, I'll start there. Computing traditionally starts its approach to accessibility with assistive technology and HCI; these are important approaches, and have benefited many people with disabilities.

I would like to suggest that these approaches are not enough, and there are many computing educators who realize this point as well. I would argue that we need to actively seek expertise from learning researchers, colleagues, and especially from the students themselves. I would not be surprised to find that many of the obstacles encountered by students with disabilities are less physical/structural and more process/culture/incorrect assumptions.

And this is important work -- Jan Cuny (University of Oregon, photo left) has stated in a NYTimes article that also featured one of the keynote speakers for SIGCSE 2008, Ed Lazowska (and I'm paraphrasing, please forgive ...) that we need to discover more students with potential in computing from not just the traditional areas or there will be shortages of prepared professionals (i.e., we need to reach women, minorities, and those with disabilities) -- if only there was a conference that addressed this -- well, there are a few, including SIGCSE 2008, but also ASSETS, ITiCSE 2007, ....

OK, I feel better now -- SIGCSE 2008 is only a few months away -- I look forward to again discussing and reflecting on these and other issues involving computing education -- the program schedule, registration and hotel reservations should be open soon, so return here or visit the virtual home of SIGCSE 2008 so that you can visit the real home of the Symposium next March.

Now to return to my real home (miles to go before I sleep ...).

An Invitation to SIGCSE 2008 ...

2007-10-15T16:38:00.000-03:00

The planning committee for SIGCSE 2008 are busy, well, planning, so I will be brief -- kudos to Paul Tymann for the Roommate Database to match attendees and share expenses (and thus increase attendance) -- more kudos to Tammy VanDeGrift for the excellent Hotel, Shopping and Restaurant Map where you can interact and plan your conference.

Congrats also to my co-chair Susan Rodger, whose educational tool JFLAP was celebrated as a finalist for the Premier Award at the recent Frontiers in Education Conference. Susan has the slides and a demo at her JFLAP site.

More "shout-outs" to Jeliot 3, also a finalist for the Premier Award at FIE 2007; clearly computing is producing useful tools for engineering education.

Below is the text from our invitation sent to the SIGCSE listserv today.

++

We are pleased to provide you with information about the SIGCSE 2008
conference to be held in Portland, Oregon: March 12-15, 2008.

http://www.cs.duke.edu/sigcse08

Ten highlights here on information about SIGCSE 2008 including
how it may be different than years past and why you should head to
SIGCSE in the northwest this year!

More details on these items are below.

1) Call for Posters and Bofs: Deadline November 5
2) Registration rates - same as 2007!
3) Conference hotel - free metro ride from convention center
4) Events in the Conference Hotel
5) Three Keynote Speakers: Mayer, Lazowska and SIGCSE Award Winner
6) Saving trees - CD instead of paper proceedings
7) Come early for the pre-conference events
8) Stay late for a workshop! Portland TrailBlazers! Cirque du Soleil!
9) Find a roommate - available now
10) Portland is great! No sales tax, wine country, nice restaurants!

Here are more details.

1) Call for Posters and Bofs: Deadline November 5

There is still a chance to submit. See details at:

http://www.cs.duke.edu/sigcse08/authors.html

2) Registration rates - same as 2007!

We've managed to keep the registration rates the same as 2007.
Registration rates are posted on the attendees page:

http://www.cs.duke.edu/sigcse08/attendees.html

Registration will be available in November.

3) Conference hotel - free metro ride from convention center

The conference hotel, the Hilton Portland and Executive Towers,
will be in downtown Portland. The Oregon Convention Center
is across the river. There is a free metro (called MAX) that you can
take one block from the Hilton and it drops you off right in front
of the convention center.

Two other hotels, Inn at the Convention Center and the Red Lion,
will be available near the convention center.

Hotel registration should be available soon on the conference site.

4) Events in the conference hotel

The Birds of a Feather and the Thursday night SIGCSE Reception will
be held at the Conference Hotel, The Portland Hilton and Executive
Towers. All other events will be held at the Oregon Convention Center.

5) Three Keynote Speakers: Mayer, Lazowska and SIGCSE Award Winner

We have three keynote speakers lined up. The SIGCSE Award Winner (to
be determined) will speak on Thursday. Marissa Mayer, Vice President
of Search Products and User Experience, at Google will speak on Friday
morning. Ed Lazowska, the Bill and Melinda Gates Chair in Computer
Science and Engineering at the University of Washington will speak at
the Saturday Luncheon.

6) Saving trees - CD instead of paper proceedings

We will be saving trees and issuing CD proceedings instead of paper.
You can pre-order a paper proceedings for $35. Please register
early to guarantee availability of paper, as we will limit the printing
of paper proceedings.

7) Come early for the pre-conference events

There will be a Doctoral Consortium and Roundtable for Department
Chairs during the day on the Wednesday before SIGCSE. There may be other
pre-conference events scheduled on this date.

And as usual, there will be SIGCSE Wednesday night workshops starting
at 7pm.

8) Stay late for a workshop! Portland TrailBlazers! Cirque du Soleil!

Saturday workshops will be scheduled from 4-7pm.

Saturday night you could watch the Portland Trailblazers play at 7pm (you
can walk across the street to the arena after attending a workshop!) or
catch a Cirque du Soleil show.

9) Find a roommate - available now

If you would like to find a roommate, Paul Tymann has graciously
provided the Roommate Database again this year. Please check it out
now on the attendees page.

http://www.cs.duke.edu/sigcse08/attendees.html

10) Portland is great! No sales tax, wine country, nice restaurants!

That's right, stay and shop, there is no sales tax in Oregon. Also
check out a winery and try some of the many nice restaurants. We have
included a google map on the attendees page that shows the conference
hotels, the convention center and many recommended restaurants.

Plus there's Powell's Books, including
Powell's Technical Books, 33 NW Park, Portland - (503) 228-4651.

And we have ordered sunny weather!

Susan Rodger and J.D. Dougherty
SIGCSE 2008 Symposium Chairs
rodger@cs.duke.edu, jd@cs.haverford.edu

Rommate Database: share costs, new friends

2007-10-09T22:48:00.000-03:00

Paul Tymann, Chair Emertius and all around good guy, has again made a roommate matching service available for SIGCSE 2008. This service should help with costs, and to stay at the conference hotel (which I can state is a beautiful hotel). Moreover, it might be a chance to make a new acquaintance, a new story at SIGCSE. Thanks, Paul.

Not just a Computing Education Issue ...

2007-10-03T21:25:00.000-03:00

Tonight I attended a lecture by our new provost, Linda Bell, a successful economics professor whose current interests involve the gender gap in executive compensation. I do not want to share the salary and compensation numbers I saw in the talk, only that issues about diversity (part of the SIGCSE 2008 theme) is not limited to our field. What I found interesting was Linda's methodology, her use of rigorous statistics (thanks goodness for Statistics Bootcamp!) and deep exploration of the question, led to some interesting results (summarized here).

The SIGCSE conferences and community work to foster better education in computing. The community is composed mostly of computer scientists dedicated to improving teaching. Much of the conference consists of practical experiences in the classroom (even the non-traditional classroom), but I am becoming more motivated to explore issues in CS education with a similar approach, and hoping that can inform our community. Pie in the sky, but why not try?

I am pleased to explore diversity issues statistically, anecdotally, economically, computationally, ... you get the picture. As I listen to talks and read articles, I feel better knowing that our community does not struggle alone.

One interesting concept from Pf. Bell's lecture I learned -- in certain economic theory, discrimination may exist, but should not persist as it takes away from profits in the long run (I am certainly paraphrasing). There is some analogy to computing education and student performance, please help me fill in the gaps.
__

P.S.: I thought to find a cite for some of the economics I was describing above, so I started at Google and already found this post within five minutes after the initial post -- kinda freaked me out :-S

The Rising Portland Dining Scene ...

2007-09-27T23:23:00.000-03:00

Well, whadda ya know (as they say in Brooklyn) -- in a few past posts I have commented on the magnificent city of Portland, host of SIGCSE 2008 -- well, the New York Times just printed a piece on the excellent dining that has emerged in the last five years in Portland, Oregon.

Titled "In Portland, a Golden Age of Dining and Drinking," the article discusses some of the dining opportunities, and how they came about. There is even a slide show of some of the restaurants and dishes.

POVA also maintains a web resource called "Portland, Oregon Dining: Food, Wine and Beer" -- you can search restaurants by type and get an overview that include wine and beer experiences.

Read both to discover how "Portland is a free spirit" -- then start making plans to submit a BOF or a poster by Nov 5, 2007, or simply attend SIGCSE 2008 and see for yourself.

++ added Feb 3 2008

I just discovered this other NYTimes piece about the wine country, and how to use a bicycle to make the tour in the Portland, Oregon region -- thanks, Erica!

"Discrimination against women and minorities ...."

2007-09-26T23:18:00.000-03:00

The title of the post is taken from the opening of a news story entitled, "U.S. faces competitive disadvantage from lack of women in tech jobs." I was made aware of the story from the ACM News Service (a convenient feature, I have found). It seems to be the latest in a series of articles that chronicles the issue of diversity in computer science and information technology.

You should read the full quote of Robert Birgeneau, chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley. He explicitly starts with "discrimination" as the problem. That's a serious charge made by a person with credentials.

I teach CS, and have for about 16 years at the undergraduate level. I "know" I do not discriminate (as far as one can tell about one's self -- more about that later). In fact, I have worked hard to become more sensitive to the impact and consequences of certain practices and assumptions. I read Fisher and Margolis' Unlocking the Clubhouse. I have participated in many conversations about diversity in CS and in other places. So it stings to read about discrimination in something so important to me, especially when I believe it does not belong there.

The reality (IMHB)* is that there is some impediment to balance and diversity in computing as it is realized today. I am not an expert in diversity studies, but I have spoken with quite a few professionals (many at SIGCSE conferences past) who have given me "food for thought."

There are certainly many ongoing efforts underway to address diversity in computing and information technology; examples include the CRA-W, the Grace Hopper Conference, and the ACM-W committee. There are many more, and not all address issues for women in computing (please feel invited to share them here).

I am happy that SIGCSE 2008 will (hopefully) provide another venue for dialogue and learning about issues related to diversity in computing education. There are many reasons to promote diversity (e.g., smaller numbers of professionals), but I am most motivated by fairness. I know there is no Hippocratic Oath for CS educators, but I believe we should "do no harm," and that includes barriers for disenfranchised populations.

I also realize that I probably -- almost definitely -- have fallen into habits in my teaching that are not effective for certain people, and I hope to renew my commitment to teaching at SIGCSE 2008. Feel free to join me on my virtual soapbox, or help me get to a better place.
___
* In My Humble Blog

Pausch ahead of Pitt ...

2007-09-21T10:50:00.000-03:00

There are certain media stories that never seem to disappear, and the more we want them to go away, the less likely they do -- well, finally a story that is worth the bandwidth.

This morning, Randy Pausch appeared on Good Morning America (ABC) to go into some of the realities of his situation (see previous post, the WSJ article, or the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette story) -- at the ABC website you can watch his appearance (about nine minutes after a brief commercial). Excerpts from the lecture are in a previous post, and the lecture itself is at the WSJ and all over YouTube.

Randy's work on Alice and other projects in virtual reality, imagineering, etc ... have been chronicled in many places -- I just wanted to note that he is a fine ambassador for the field of computing, and the lecture and follow-up appearances really brought the human element to the surface -- computation may be an abstract topic, but computing (and CS education) is certainly a human enterprise.

And just for the record, my co-chair Susan Rodger noted that as of 9:45 am, there were more comments about Randy's appearance on GMA than Brad Pitt's (still true as of 10:00 am!) -- finally, a proper use of media.

++

Postscript: Later that night, Randy was named "Person of the Week" this week by ABC News, and I also found too many posts on the topic to list here.

ACM Membership via SIGCSE ...

2007-09-20T17:35:00.000-03:00

Well, I am not even going to try to match the topic in my previous post, but I will express my thanks to my co-chair Susan Rodger for letting me know about Randy's lecture, and to Barbara Boucher Owens for posting the link to excerpts of the lecture at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette.

Today I received a note that ACM is working to increase membership, and I thought, "what a great (and I believe effective) way to introduce the ACM to a potential member by inviting them to a SIGCSE conference." I have attended a few other conferences, and have always found SIGCSE the most engaging, immediately useful, relevant (we all have some experience with computing education), and fun.

So, please help the ACM and consider who you might invite to attend SIGCSE, perhaps for the first time, as a way to introduce ACM membership.

Randy Pausch: A Lecture You Must See ...

2007-09-18T17:37:00.000-03:00

I am presently attending the webcast lecture by Randy Pausch of CMU. The lecture is entitled, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," and will cover many, many things I am sure (it's just starting now) -- Randy is starting by describing the "elephant in the room" -- Cancer -- Randy has been battling for some time now (see his cancer update page) -- so far he has challenged the audience to not talk about cancer, and to not offer pity (esp. during his push-ups :-) -- wow, he just bought a Macintosh too! I suppose anything is possible.

Randy is a long-time SIGCSE attendee and contributor, often indirectly -- his work with the Alice virtual world environment for learning programming is a SIGCSE standard, and the Alice Tea Party becoming another.

Randy has been going through his dreams, including being like, er, meeting, Captain Kirk and his cool toys from Star Trek -- he demonstrated what looked like (and sounded like) a communicator from the original series.

Apparently, Randy also has a large and interesting collection of stuffed animals -- to convince the cynics, Randy brought out a collection of stuffed bears, very large and colorful -- he then gave them away to the audience.

Imagineering is also on Randy's list, and from a long time ago -- he showed photos of him and his family on the "Alice Ride" at Disney (foreshadowing much?) -- so many stories that Randy is sharing, and in his very engaging, unique style, please just visit the webcast yourself, I am stopping to enjoy the lecture.

+++

I learned some interesting approaches of hardships and obstacles, including "the brick wall" -- the brick wall is there for (at least) three reasons:

to see how much you want it
to keep the others out
let us show our determination

... OK, I did not see the birthday cake coming, or the singing for Randy's wife Jai -- and what a cake, looks like enough to feed all 500 attendees.

It was nice seeing a few familiar faces in the "audience of physical proximity," including Don Slater, Wanda Dann, Andy van Dam and Tom Cortina (SIGCSE 2008 Birds of a Feather).

There is a nice post-lecture recognition service, stay tuned, it's worth it.

I was able to access the webcast from the CMU homepage, perhaps it will be archived there. And remember, Randy is a big believer in "head fakes," so keep you eyes and ears open as you watch.

Oh, and I was not crying -- I just got something in both eyes at the same time.

+++

Postscript: Check the story from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette.

Fall Season of CCSC's

2007-09-17T17:38:00.000-03:00

Hey, I just returned from ICER, and the SIGCSE 2008 conference preparation has returned to the fore of my activities. Many thanks to Mark Guzdial, Sally Fincher and Richard Anderson for the past three years of ICER success, and to Beth Simon and Sue Fitzgerald for the pre-workshop Statistics Bootcamp.

Just a few related topics that may be of interest to SIGCSE members worldwide and in your neighborhood:

Regional CCSC's are coming for the Fall, check out one in your area (or go beyond your comfort zone to another region) -- I look forward to visiting CCSCE 2007 this October 12-13, 2007 at St. Joseph's College, Patchogue, NY (somewhere on Long Island near one of my students, or so I am told) -- others can be found at the CCSC website.
Reviewing is (hopefully) happening as I compose this post -- if you might be one of the lucky reviewers serving the symposium, please accept our thanks and return your review as specified in your email.
This week's most compelling story involves the wonderful workshop chair Steve Wolfman, who demonstrates the extremes to which a good computing educator will go to motivate students and engender community among a class -- check the video below:

Until next time, take care.

The Man Who Came to ICER ...

2007-09-15T09:43:00.000-03:00

There have been a few interesting notes since my last posting here. Proposals for papers, panels, special sessions and workshops closed last weekend, and we are very pleased by the perceived excitement level -- proposal counts appear to have met or exceeded the numbers from last year. We are grateful to the authors who submitted their work, and and now looking forward to putting together the actual program. However, this program strongly depends on the feedback from our global team of reviewers. Kudos to Sue Fitzgerald, Mark Guzdial, Lisa Meeden, and Steve Wolfman, as well as DB gurus Henry Walker and John Dooley for a very quick turnaround from submitting to reviewing.

After working with the program committee for a few months now, I have come to depend on each member. For example, Mark Guzdial always seems to be juggling at least four items. Case in point -- after completing last week's deadline as SIGCSE 2008 Program Chair, he then switched to ICER 2007 Workshop Chair and Host. Well, if you count, that's only three things, so I was happy to add to Mark's to-do list by "offering to stay with him and his family." My travel budget is stretched this year particularly, but I really wanted to attend ICER, especially the Statistics Bootcamp (conducted by Mark's Co-Chair, Sue Fitzgerald -- has SIGCSE Program Chair become that easy? :-).

Mark and his wife Barbara have graciously taken in the poor professor from Pennsylvania. Their daughter Katie asked me which is better, Georgia or Pennsylvania, and it was easy to answer -- Georgia, as I have never had a bad day yet there (but have had many "challenges" back home in PA).

The Statistics Bootcamp was great, David Drew for Claremont Graduate University provided a rapid and full overview of the use of statistics in computing education research. His insight and honest views of the field were very useful to hear. I suppose we can also expect a higher level of results analysis in certain journals (hint, hint, Josh!). I hope to post a few photos from dinner when I get back to Haverford. Thanks to Sue Fitzgerald and Beth Simon for making this event possible.

I am presently attending the ICER 2007 keynote by John Stasko of Georgia Tech discussing his work in algorithm animation. There are many familiar faces from SIGCSE, including my Co-Chair Susan Rodger, as well as many "SIGCSE Symposia Chair Emerti." I am sure we'll be planning and revising the planning, and then planning some more. It is work, but (mostly) a labour of love (for our international audience :-).

BTW, Barbara Boucher Owens, SIGCSE President, announced:

ICER 2008 will be held late September/early October (exact dates TBD) in Sydney, Australia
SIGCSE 2009 will be held in Chattanooga, Tennessee USA
ICER 2009 in Berkeley, California USA
ICER 2010 in Aarus, Denmark (ITiCSE 2002 was there, it's very cool!)

Day 1 of ICER 2007 (SAT) was chock full of quality computing education research reports, covering everything from how do students think to how much the perceptions of teachers impact what students learn -- and how to gauge this phenomenon. There was mention of a book about a college professor who enrolled as a freshman during a leave. Saturday evening was a dinner enjoying peers and a the Georgia Tech vs. Boston College football game (sadly for GATech ...).

Day 2 (SUN) ramped up slowly with papers involving cognitive load and its impact on teaching. Discussions at ICER follow every two presentation, and continue over meals and breaks. While they sound heated, they are never insulting (or should not be taken that way). I can say there is a very high laughter/word ratio in the entire workshop -- that's my opinion, anyway.

Until next post, remember that Posters and Birds-of-a-Feather proposals are due in early November 2007 for SIGCSE 2008.

Portland featured at CNN, NYTimes

2007-09-05T11:12:00.000-03:00

Well, the fall term at Haverford College has started again on Labor Day (don't get me started about the implications of a bastion of social justice starting to "work" on a day to celebrate the worker). Still, work on SIGCSE 2008 is continuing and exciting.

Dan Garcia, a CS professor at UC Berkeley and a member of the Steering Committee, gave me a heads-up about a story at CNN describing Portland, host city of SIGCSE 2008 (shout-out to Dan!). Fortunately, the story is very positive, so my experiences posted previously are not unique to me (and hopefully will be positive for you too). I plan to put this link on the SIGCSE 2008 website under local arrangements.

---

The New York Times may have beaten me to the punch with an article entitled "In Portland, a Golden Age of Dining and Drinking."

Take Me Out To The Ballgame ...

2007-08-22T12:36:00.000-03:00

The SIGCSE community works in many ways, some not so "conventional" -- for example, Jeff Salvage, CS professor at Drexel University and SIGCSE attendee, asked me to participate in his recent marriage proposal to his girlfriend Jen. The plot involved a trip to Yankee Stadium in NYC where I would present myself as Brian Cashman, a member of the Yankee's Front Office. I would invite Jen, not really a Yankee's fan, to become a true member of the franchise/family and offer her a Yankee's cap (that would contain the ring) -- I am not making this up.

Well, I arrived at Yankee Stadium early on WED, August 15, and stood in line for Monument Park inside the Stadium. The line was so long that I could not make it to the actual proposal, so Jeff went ahead without me -- thanks goodness, I was a little nervous handling the ring.

So, you may be asking, did Jen accept Jeff's proposal? Or was it a long ride home to Philly? I believe the photo provide a clue :-).

Jeff (no sunglasses) and Jen, with Jamie (sunglasses) and me.

For the record, Yankees lost to the Orioles 4-3 in ten innings (I stayed for seven).

Do you have a SIGCSE adventure? Please feel encouraged to post your SIGCSE story!

Submissions Now Open

2007-08-14T00:15:00.000-03:00

Recently, "Team SIGCSE 2008" has been working to again provide the online submission system for proposals. Special thanks go out to John Dooley and Henry Walker for changes that make it easier to generate proceedings and programs directly from materials submitted to the DB. Also, kudos to Program Chairs Sue Fitzgerald and Mark Guzdial for developing reviewer guidance in hopes of improving the entire review process, especially since each is involved in the ICER 2007 conference in Atlanta in September (also, they both have "z"'s in their last names, making it easier to compose email to them :-).

Now that we have a better sense of the space available in Portland, we are putting together the pre-conference activities. For example, the Doctoral Consortium will again provide opportunities for our future CS educators. Thanks to Josh Tenenberg and Donald Joyce for their work now and "yet to come." We hope to have other announcements of associated activities in subsequent posts.

Visiting Portland in Aug 2007

2007-08-09T01:21:00.000-03:00

First, welcome to my Blog for SIGCSE 2008, I am very excited about the conference, and after visiting Portland, OR this week my level of enthusiasm has increased -- exponentially (bad for algorithms, good for conferences :-).

The weather in Portland was cool relative to my hometown of Haverford, outside of Philadelphia (temps in the mid-90's -- yikes). My co-chair Susan Rodger met me at the Portland Hilton, and away we went all over town, visiting the people from POVA, the Oregon Convention Center (OCC), the Hilton, The Inn at the Convention Center (guess where that's located???), and the Red Lion. I can say with confidence that Portland is ready, and very accommodating, especially to ACM conferences.

Downtown Portland is full of life, including shops, an eclectic mix of people and culture, and (of course) restaurants -- please visit the SIGCSE 2008 website, eventually Susan and I will post some of the great restaurants we "tested" for your benefit ;-).

Another great feature is public transportation in Portland -- it's only $2 from the airport to any of the hotels and the OCC on the MAX, the city's light rail. Better yet, the MAX is free once in town between any of the hotels and the OCC, as well as most of Portland. People just jump on, ride and "de-MAX" to get around. It is so successful that Portland is expanding it yet again -- fortunately the construction does not impede getting around.

Susan and I each jogged/walked the park along the Willamette River and across the bridges -- it is a nice route that people may want to try -- there are also nice shops and a harbor at the south end of the town, near the OMSI.

My final comment (for now) is that Portland is a wireless city. As it was a pleasant day today, I sat for about an hour in Pioneer Park using the public free WiFi -- you have a few ads and medium bandwidth, but certainly useful. Furthermore, the Portland Airport (PDX) is wireless, with workstations and coffee bars with power (I am "blogging" from a coffee station now).

Until next time, I encourage all to consider proposals for the conference, the first wave of submissions (papers, workshops, panels, special sessions) are due Sep 7, 2007 -- it's sooner than you think!