A model for piloting pathways for computational thinking in a general education curriculum

  • Authors:

  • Charles Dierbach;Harry Hochheiser;Samuel Collins;Gerald Jerome;Christopher Ariza;Tina Kelleher;William Kleinsasser;Josh Dehlinger;Siddharth Kaza

  • Affiliations:

  • Towson University, Towson, MD, USA;University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA;Towson University, Towson, MD, USA;Towson University, Towson, MD, USA;Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, USA;Towson University, Towson, MD, USA;Towson University, Towson, MD, USA;Towson University, Towson, MD, USA;Towson University, Towson, MD, USA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the 42nd ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
  • Year:
  • 2011

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Abstract

Computational thinking has been identified as a necessary fundamental skill for all students. University curricula, however, are currently not designed to provide such knowledge to a broad student population. In this paper, we report on our experiences in the development of a model for incorporating computational thinking into the undergraduate, general education curriculum at Towson University. We discuss the model in terms of eliciting faculty interest, institutional support, and positive student response. In the first two years of this NSF-funded three-year project, we have developed, piloted and assessed five computational thinking general education courses - an Everyday Computational Thinking course, and four discipline-specific computational thinking general education courses. Initial assessments show promising and significant student, instructor and administration interest in computational thinking as a basis in courses covering multiple disciplines within the general education curriculum.