Repetition Meets Context: Teaching CS1 Through Two Scientific DomainsGlobal
Introductory computer science (CS1) courses are foundational to students’ computing education, yet they often rely on abstract, decontextualized problems and introduce core concepts only once. This can lead to fragile learning, where students struggle to retain knowledge or apply it in new contexts. To address these challenges, we designed a CS1 course that introduces computing twice—first through a biology lens, then through a chemistry lens. This dual-introduction, dual-context structure aims to reinforce foundational computing concepts while highlighting their relevance across scientific domains. Our results indicate that the course structure effectively supported student learning, and end-of-semester survey responses reflected strong student engagement and appreciation for the interdisciplinary approach.
Fri 20 FebDisplayed time zone: Central Time (US & Canada) change
13:40 - 15:00 | From Unplugged Activities to LLM Insights: Rethinking How We Teach Intro Computing CoursesPapers at Meeting Room 275 Chair(s): Miranda Parker | ||
13:40 20mTalk | CS Unplugged in Gateway Computing Courses: A Collaborative, Active Learning Approach in Introductory Computing Papers Hyesung Park Georgia Gwinnett College, Evelyn Brannock Georgia Gwinnett College, Tacksoo Im Georgia Gwinnett College, Wei Jin Georgia Gwinnett College, Sunae Shin Georgia Gwinnett College, Xin Xu Georgia Gwinnett College, David Kerven Georgia Gwinnett College | ||
14:00 20mTalk | Deriving Instructional Insights from Human–LLM Co-Evaluation of Student Collaboration in Data-Centric ProgrammingGlobal Papers Marshall An Carnegie Mellon University, Christine Kwon Carnegie Mellon University, Yoonjae Lee Seoul National University, Ji-Hyeon Hur Seoul National University, Dongho LEE Dalhousie University, Vincent Huai Carnegie Mellon University, Barry Zheng Carnegie Mellon University, Matthew Yu Carnegie Mellon University, Joana Liu Carnegie Mellon University, Jenny Pugh Carnegie Mellon University, Gahgene Gweon Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University, John Stamper Carnegie Mellon University | ||
14:20 20mTalk | Repetition Meets Context: Teaching CS1 Through Two Scientific DomainsGlobal Papers Meiying Qin York University, Jade Atallah York University, Hovig Kouyoumdjian York University, Jonatan Schroeder York University, Larry Yueli Zhang York University, May Haidar York University | ||
14:40 20mTalk | Systems for Scaling Accessibility Efforts in Large Computing Courses Papers Ritesh Kanchi Harvard University, Miya Natsuhara University of Washington, Seattle, Matt Wang University of Washington Media Attached | ||