This page provides detailed information about working group submissions to the ITiCSE 2025 conference. It is part of the general Call for Participation which you should read first, if you have not yet done so.
If you have questions that neither this page nor the Call for Participation can answer, please contact the working group chairs.
Important dates for working groups
Important dates can be found in the sidebar on the right.
What is a working group?
An ITiCSE working group is an collaborative research project conducted by a team of between five and about ten researchers from around the world to produce a high-value report on a topic of interest in computing education.
Before the conference
A working group (WG) begins with a proposal written by up to four working group leaders. The proposals are reviewed by the working group co-chairs, who decide which proposals can proceed to recruit members. The selected working groups recruit members through the WG pages on the conference website and by other means.
Once applications for the first round of recruitment close, the WG selects their group members from the list of applicants. There is then a short period of negotiation during which the WG co-chairs try to resolve any groups that are oversubscribed or undersubscribed. At this point WGs can begin work on their project. An approximately two week long second round of recruitment follows. The final WG consists of five to about ten researchers, including the WG leaders. The viable groups (ones who have recruited sufficient members) then begin their collaboration and work until the time of the conference.
Immediately before the conference
On the Thursday preceding the conference (26 June), working group leaders will meet in person with the WG co-chairs for an introduction session. For the next three days, working groups will meet for all-day collaboration and writing. A draft of their final report is to be presented to the working group co-chairs at the end of the third day, Sunday 29 June.
During the conference
The conference will include a session in which each WG gives a brief presentation of their project. In a break from previous practice, the working groups will not continue their work during the conference; instead, they are encouraged to attend conference sessions.
After the conference
Following the conference, the WG co-chairs will provide general feedback on the overall direction and scope of the work. Upon receiving the co-chairs’ feedback, the WGs have some time to continue their work and update the report, which is then submitted for rigorous review. Accepted reports are given a few weeks to respond to the reviewers’ suggestions and are then submitted for publication in a supplement to the conference proceedings.
Formatting the proposal & practical organisation plan
The bullet list below summarizes the requirements for a Working Group proposal. Details follow the list.
- The proposal uses the same format as used for paper submissions
- The proposal begins with a two-page ‘paper’ with these topics
- background and related work
- goals of the proposal
- proposed methodology
- expected deliverables
- and includes citations
- The proposal also includes a one-page appendix that includes
- inclusion criteria for member selection
- a proposed work-plan
- estimation of good WG size
- a discussion of prior WG experience of proposers/leaders
1. Proposal Body (2 pages)
The submission is not anonymous: it must include the authors’ names and affiliations. The remainder of the two-page proposal body should be used to explain the background of the work, the goals, the proposed methodology, and the expected deliverables. This can, and should, read like the beginning of a research paper as the working group should be conducting research.
A successful working group proposal will be based on existing literature, and propose meaningful work worthy of a working group effort conducted by a multicultural team. In addition, it should be clear the methodology is appropriate, and the expected results are both reasonable (achievable) and meaningful.
Note: The successful proposal can result in two publications: 1) an extended abstract published with the conference papers, and 2) the full final report published after the conference. These two publications should have two different titles (save your preferred title for the full report.) All accepted members are expected to contribute to the shape and direction of the working group and contribute to the extended abstract published at the time of the conference, as well as the final report published after the conference, as per ACM authorship policy.
2. Proposal Appendix (1 page)
The proposal appendix is a maximum one page, and should include the following details:
- Inclusion criteria for member selection, and how the leaders will encourage diversity of membership. The goal of ITiCSE WGs is to create new research collaboration opportunities, especially for people who are not yet well-connected within our community. We encourage WGs to consider at least one early career academic / doctoral student / member with no previous WG experience.
- Proposed work-plan that includes considerations for different time zones and collaboration technology (and alternatives) and how these choices will support engaged members.
- Schedule of expected meetings prior to the conference and milestones or other progress points. Leaders are asked to report the WG progress to WG co-chairs on a monthly basis.
- An estimation of the number of members that can contribute meaningfully to the project. The above-mentioned limit of 5-10 members can be flexible for justified reasons and the group can also be larger.
- A discussion of proposers/leaders prior WG experience. We expect that at least one of the leaders have attended some prior WG due to the fact that, in the past, “no WG experience among the WG leaders” has been the strongest indicator for issues (and perhaps the final report being rejected).
3 Submitting the proposal
Follow the instructions on Submission process at the foot of the Call for Participation page.
The Full Working Group process
The working group process spans about 11 months, including time before and after the conference. The ‘phases’ of work include the following:
- Proposal – The proposal process is described above.
- Call for participation – Accepted proposals will be published on the conference site.
- Recruitment – Leaders of accepted working groups as well as ITiCSE PC and WG Co-Chairs advertise to recruit members.
- Membership – WG Co-Chairs set up a web form for applicants to apply to WGs (1st and 2nd choice). In coordination with WG Co-Chairs, the leaders of each WG select members from the applicant pool in two phases based on their inclusion criteria. WG Co-Chairs monitor this process. If there is room in a given WG after the first phase, that WG can complete the group by also inviting applicants that didn’t fit in their first choice.
- Pre-conference work – Working groups work during the months prior to the conference according to the work-plan submitted with the WG proposal.
- On-site work – There is a kick-off meeting on Thursday before the WGs start and at least one WG leader of each group is expected to attend. In the last three days (Friday to Sunday) before the conference, working groups work at the conference site preparing the preliminary report draft, which is delivered before the main conference starts.
- Conference presentation – Working groups present their progress to conference attendees at one of the sessions during the conference.
- Post-Conference Feedback – WG Co-Chairs provide feedback and the approval to continue.
- Post-Conference work – Working groups continue work to complete the report for about three months and submit the final version. All WG members have the responsibility to continue their contributions to the paper after the conference. Leaders certify which members are eligible for authorship according to the ACM authorship policy before the paper is submitted to review.
- Review – The final version is peer-reviewed by at least three external reviewers. The Working Groups are supposed to list at least 10 relevant possible reviewers for their work that have no Conflict of Interest with any of the WG members.
- Decision – WG Co-Chairs decide which reports will be published based on detailed reviews. Reports that need major revisions are rejected at this phase.
- Revisions – Working Groups respond to reviews to produce and submit camera-ready reports.
- Publication – The reports are published.
Questions
If you have questions about anything discussed above, please contact the Working Group chairs. iticse2025wg@easychair.org