Karel the Robot: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Programming
Karel the Robot: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Programming
Personality types in software engineering
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
Benefits of using socially-relevant projects in computer science and engineering education
Proceedings of the 35th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Voices of women in a software engineering course: reflections on collaboration
Journal on Educational Resources in Computing (JERIC) - Special Issue on Gender-Balancing Computing Education
Personality types, learning styles, and an agile approach to software engineering education
Proceedings of the 37th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Proceedings of the 37th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
ADC '05 Proceedings of the Agile Development Conference
Proceedings of the third international workshop on Computing education research
Poogle and the unknown-answer assignment: open-ended, sharable cs1 assignments
Proceedings of the 39th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Games, stories, or something more traditional: the types of assignments college students prefer
Proceedings of the 39th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
The impact of providing project choices in CS1
ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
ROSE: a repository of education-friendly open-source projects
Proceedings of the 13th annual conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
The impact of instructor initiative on student learning: a tutoring study
Proceedings of the 40th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
A simple framework for interactive games in CS1
Proceedings of the 40th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
Engaging students in software development course projects
The Fifth Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference: Intellect, Initiatives, Insight, and Innovations
Capstone projects as community connectors
Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
PREOP as a tool to increase student retention in CS
Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
On the implementation of self-assessment in an introductory programming course
ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
An approach to integrating ICTD projects into an undergraduate curriculum
Proceedings of the 41st ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
Introductory programming in a web context
Proceedings of the Twelfth Australasian Conference on Computing Education - Volume 103
Providing robotic experiences through object-based programming (PREOP)
Proceedings of the 2009 Alice Symposium
Building a thriving CS program at a small liberal arts college
Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
Aligning generations to improve retention in introductory computing courses
Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
ITiCSE 2010 working group report motivating our top students
Proceedings of the 2010 ITiCSE working group reports
Learning to Program with Personal Robots: Influences on Student Motivation
ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE)
Sustainability themed problem solving in data structures and algorithms
Proceedings of the 43rd ACM technical symposium on Computer Science Education
A framework for enhancing the social good in computing education: a values approach
Proceedings of the final reports on Innovation and technology in computer science education 2012 working groups
Computer science education for social good
Proceeding of the 44th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
A service learning practicum capstone
Proceedings of the 45th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
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In addition to "learning by doing," programming assignments and projects are also the mechanism by which students learn about the utility of computer science -- or not. Recent research indicates that the current generation of students is in search of a career with meaning, and women and minorities have long been known to desire careers that help society. In this paper, we provide student testimonials on the importance and benefits of practical and socially-relevant assignments. We then examined approximately 200 first year (CS1) and software engineering assignments at top computer science institutions. Only 34% of the CS1 projects had a practical or socially-relevant context, 41% had no context at all, and 15% were games. For software engineering projects, 62% were practical or socially-relevant, but still 16% had no practical context. We recommend that educators, through their assignments, place increased emphasis on demonstrating that computer science can be used to aid society and/or produce products of practical value to society.