Fri 20 Feb 2026 10:40 - 11:00 at Meeting Room 274 - Broadening Participation Chair(s): Gaokgakala Alogeng

In 2021, the Computer Science and Engineering department at School added a second pathway to the major with a new CS1 and CS2 course sequence. Our goal was to address disparities in course outcomes between different populations, particularly between those with and without prior coding experience and majors versus non- majors. The hope was that students new to computing would have a viable path to discover whether they had interest and aptitude in computing without the added stress of being in a classroom with students who have prior coding experience. In this paper, we report the data analysis that led to our decision to add a second pathway, design choices, and challenges (particularly in university politics) in launching and adding a second pathway. We present the results over the last three years, which illustrate that the new series has leveled the playing field. Most importantly, the course outcome data and changes to computing major enrollment illustrate that we achieved our goal of attracting students new to computing and thus are broadening participation in computing.

Fri 20 Feb

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10:40 - 12:00
Broadening ParticipationPapers at Meeting Room 274
Chair(s): Gaokgakala Alogeng CSEdBotswana
10:40
20m
Talk
Creating a Second Pathway to the Computing MajorMSIIn-Person & OnlineERT Best Paper
Papers
Ashley Pang UC Riverside, Paea LePendu pc, Mariam Salloum BCOE/Computer Science, Neftali Watkinson Medina University of California, Riverside, Carla Brodley Northeastern University, Center for Inclusive Computing
11:00
20m
Talk
Exploring the Relationship Between Department Characteristics and Computer Science Student Diversity in the US MSIIn-Person & Online
Papers
Max Fowler University of Illinois, Mariam Saffar Perez University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Marcella Todd Harvey Mudd College, Rachel Perley Harvey Mudd College, Paul Bruno University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Colleen M. Lewis University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
11:20
20m
Talk
Teaching Authentic Programming Applications to Novices: Purpose-first Tutorials in a General Education Computing CourseIn-Person & Online
Papers
Mehmet Arif Demirtas University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Claire Zheng University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Kathryn Cunningham University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
11:40
20m
Talk
Understanding Software Engineering Practices and Tools in Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering StudentsIn-Person & Online
Papers
Prisha Bhatia Olin College of Engineering, Ramzey Burdette Olin College of Engineering, Titilayo Oshinowo Olin College of Engineering, Michelle Jarvie-Eggart Michigan Technological University, Stephanos Matsumoto Olin College of Engineering