Connecting across campus

Abstract

Computer science holds a unique position to craft multidisciplinary curricula for the new generation of faculty and students across the academy who increasingly rely on computing for their scholarship. We propose that computer science programs cease curricula models that begin with a two-course sequence that emulates the natural sciences and mathematics. We report on an aggressive strategy to work with faculty from across the disciplines of arts, humanities, and the social and life sciences to help design and deliver sets of multidisciplinary, applied, and "connected" pairs of introductory courses. Preliminary results at our small liberal arts college include an increase in the percentage of women enrolling in our connected courses, more students taking an additional course in computing, a faculty energized with sharing their research early on, and new interdisciplinary research opportunities for computer science faculty and students.

Bioinformatics and the Undergraduate Curriculum

“…Since 1998, Wheaton College (Norton, MA) has actively engaged with various modes of interdisciplinary teaching. In fact, collaborative pedagogy in the new curriculum is centered on connections, or pairs of linked courses that connect significantly different disciplines ( LeBlanc et al , 2010 ). In short, the faculty voted to teach together in various combinations.…”

ITiCSE 2010 working group report motivating our top students

“…Establishing such interdisciplinary connections has been successfully used as a technique to increase enrollments in CS programs and to attract and retain female students [73]. In recent decades, it has become evident that CS is having a profound and pervasive impact on a range of other scientific disciplines, paving a way to interdisciplinary courses offered within CS programs and research projects, from which many CS students can reap tremendous benefits [93,111].…”