Social networks generate interest in computer science

Abstract

For forty years programming has been the foundation of introductory computer science. Despite exponential increases in computational power during this period, examples used in introductory courses have remained largely unchanged. The incredible growth in statistics courses at all levels, in contrast with the decline of students taking computer science courses, points to the potential for introducing computer science at many levels without emphasizing the process of programming: leverage the expertise and role-models provided by high school mathematics teachers by studying topics that arise from social networks and modeling to introduce computer science as an alternative to the traditional programming approach. This new approach may capture the interest of a broad population of students, crossing gender boundaries. We are developing modules that we hope will capture student interest and provide a compelling yet intellectually rich area of study. We plan to incorporate these modules into existing courses in math, statistics, and computer science at a wide variety of schools at all levels.

Freedom of choice as motivational factor for active learning

“…To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. tablets [4 and 20] to support active learning and harness the growing popularity of social networks [3] to engage students in the learning process.…”

Capturing, sharing, and using local place information

“…Sometimes sharing online leads to regrettable consequences [8]. Currently, the majority of social networking software users are under age 25 [3,12], and Gross and Acquisti studied this demographic with 95.6% of their subjects aged 24 or less [12]. Our work differs in three ways.…”

Making service learning accessible to computer scientists

“…It is this tight integration of community service into the course that makes service learning different from other techniques of infusing service into the curriculum. 3 An implication of this close integration of a service component into the course is that not every course will be a suitable arena for service learning. Ideally in service learning, the community service activity is structured in such a way that it serves as a catalyst to enhance the student's acquisition and retention of academic content.…”

“…[3] Incorporating service learning into the computer science curriculum would help dispel the view articulated in [1] that our discipline is asocial and inapplicable, as students discover for themselves exactly how applicable and communityoriented it can be. Thus service learning classes could contribute to reducing the "gender gap" 5 in computer science.…”