Lilian Cassel
Beginning, Now, Ever More Thirty years: ITiCSE and Computing Education
Abstract. We started with an idea for something new. We saw it evolve. There is every indication that it has a bright future. What more could we ask?
Let’s have a conversation about computing education — about all education. What were the concerns 30 years ago? What issues bedevil us now? How far have we come? What lessons from the beginnings are relevant now? How do they guide us to the future, if they do. Some of questions we were asking 30 years ago seem simple now; others continue to challenge us.
Computing began for me at the University of Delaware, as part of the first graduating class of the new major: Computer Science. It was 1968. I worked as a programmer in industry for a while, returned to UD to get a masters degree with a teaching assistantship. Our second son was born the day my thesis was due. So, when I taught my first class alone that summer, the degree was not yet official. I have told David that he was a computer scientist before he was born. He is one, and now his daughter is a CS major with plans for a Ph.D.
I taught at UD, then was the founding chair of the computing department (and the academic computing center) at a small college. Oh, the stories! I went on to get a Ph.D, then took a position at Villanova University. My three teen-aged sons called out “Yeah, Dr. MOM” at my graduation. I was the first college graduate in my family.
Now I am professor emeritus (or emerita, if you prefer) at Villanova University. My more than fifty years in computing education included being chair of SIGCSE, service on the ACM Education Board, a rotation at NSF, ABET CAC chair and commissioner. At Villanova, in the Computing Sciences Department, I was Professor, Graduate Program Director, and Department Chair.
Carlos Delgado Kloos
Programming is on Fire: Can CS Education Handle the Heat?
Abstract. The explosion of Generative AI in late 2022 has profoundly impacted society, industry, and education, demonstrating that human-made systems can master language eloquently, a feature that was thought to be unique to humans. This shift creates a fundamental challenge to educational institutions regarding how and what to teach and to assess. But programming languages are also languages. AI models are mastering software development at such a rate that a developer who does not “burn enough tokens” is increasingly viewed as inefficient for failing to leverage the best tools available. To make things worse, we are entering the “hockey stick” phase of the exponential change curve. Prompts, guardrails, skills, agents, computer use, …, new affordances emerge daily introducing an instability that makes planning very difficult. Given the current scarcity of established best practices, this presentation tries to identify some basic principles and ideas to navigate this environment, one that is both exciting and chaotic.
Dr. Carlos Delgado Kloos studied Telecommunications Engineering at the Technical University of Madrid and Computer Science at Technical University of Munich. He is Full Professor of Telematics Engineering at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, where he is also Head of Department, Director of the GAST Research Group, and Director of the UNESCO Chair on “Scalable Digital Education for All”.
Previously, he has been Rector’s Delegate for Digital Microcredentials, Vice Rector for Strategy and Digital Education, Vice Rector for Infrastructures and Environment, Associate Vice Rector for International Relations and Cooperation, and Founding Head of his Department. He has carried out research stays at several universities such as Harvard, MIT, Munich, Passau, and Naples.
His primary research interests lie in the field of Educational Technology. He has participated in numerous research projects and authored over 600 publications. He has worked recently on projects about MOOCs, Learning Analytics, Teacher Training, Microcredentials, and Artificial Intelligence. As the leader of the CertiDigital project (certidigital.es), he has been instrumental in advancing the adoption of digital micro-credentials within Spain, aligning with European frameworks. Additionally, he has coordinated several MOOCs on platforms like edX and MiríadaX, including one about Java Programming amassing approximately 700,000 registrations. Most recently, he has recorded a MOOC about AI for Teaching and Learning available on Federica Weblearning and Coursera.