Innovating our self image (special session)
The NSF CISE Directorate selected Owen Astrachan and Peter Denning as the first two Distinguished Education Fellows. Their job is to serve as ambassadors for curriculum change in a field whose basic curriculum structure is much the same as it was in the 1970s. They believe that • The outdated 1970-era curriculum structure is largely responsible for the harmful and misleading external image that CS=programming. • The external image reflects an internal self-image that started in the 1970s as "we are programmers" and matured in the 1990s to "we are masters of abstraction." These images do not foster collaboration with other fields and do not excite the curiosity of young people. In this session, Astrachan and Denning will discuss what they see as high leverage points for curriculum innovation. Astrachan will focus on problem-based learning, a way of bringing students directly into contact with real issues in the world where computation can help. Denning will focus on the Great Principles of Computing and on the development of foundational skills of innovation among curriculum innovators. They will answer questions from the audience and provide feedback to the ACM Education Board and ACM Education Council.
