CUE.NEXT: Envisioning the Future of Computing in Undergraduate Education

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CS Departments have seen significant enrollment increases in undergraduate computer science courses and programs. The number of non-majors in CS courses has also increased significantly, and many CS departments cannot meet the demand. One key reason for the increased demand from non-majors is the fact that computing and computer science have become relevant to undergraduate education in all disciplines. However, there is currently no consensus on how to design computing courses or how to structure curricula aimed at teaching the fundamentals of CS and computing to students who need to use computing effectively in the context of the other disciplines.

The goal of the upcoming CUE.NEXT workshops — organized by Larry Birnbaum (Northwestern), Susanne Hambrusch (Purdue), and Clayton Lewis (UC Boulder) — is to initiate a national dialog on the role of computing in undergraduate education. Computing educators and CS departments, as well as colleagues and academic units representing other stakeholder disciplines, will work together to define and address the challenges. Three NSF funded workshops are scheduled to take place in Chicago (November 18 and 19), DC (December 5 and 6) and Denver (January 2020).

Computing educators and CS departments, as well as colleagues and academic units representing other stakeholder disciplines, will work together to envision the future of computing in undergraduate education. Questions to be explored by CUE.NEXT workshop participants include:

  • What collaborations between CS and other disciplines can lead to and encourage new curricula and new courses?
  • How can non-computing programs effectively incorporate computing and successfully graduate students in four years?
  • How can we ensure that students with diverse backgrounds and interests are — and feel — welcome in their study of computing and CS?
  • How can bottleneck concepts that often stymie students of computing be successfully communicated to students in other disciplines?
  • How can knowledge of how to teach computing and CS in conjunction with one discipline be leveraged to better teach computing and CS in the context of other disciplines?
  • What recommendations and templates can guide departments, colleges, and institutions as they seek to integrate computing into undergraduate education?
  • What new research and teaching opportunities may emerge for both CS and other stakeholder disciplines?

Faculty teams (rather than individual faculty) are invited to apply. Each team needs to include at least member from a computing-centric department and at least one member from a non-computing centric department. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. For full consideration for the Chicago workshop, teams should apply by October 29. More information is available at https://sites.northwestern.edu/cuenext/.