Thu 19 Feb 2026 17:30 - 18:20 at Meeting Room 102 - Flock 1c

Computer Science education, and all education for that matter, is being disrupted by Generative AI. While there have been few truly transformational technologies similar to AI, other incremental but impactful advances have helped shape the computing ecosystem. Other recent examples include the transition to multicore systems (requiring the promotion of parallel computing from an elective topic), the shift to graphical interfaces (raising expectations for assignments and motivating the creation of Media Computation), and the emergence of object-oriented programming. In this Birds of a Feather Session, we ask the question “How might we redesign our CS1 and CS2 courses to better prepare students for emerging and future computing paradigms while maintaining strong foundations in problem solving, programming, and computational thinking?” Using collaborative brainstorming techniques, participants will create a list of potential future paradigms (either disruptive or incremental) that are relevant to CS1/CS2, and develop proposed roadmaps that identify how those paradigms can be leveraged as contexts for teaching the existing CS1 and CS2 courses within the CS2023 curriculum.

Thu 19 Feb

Displayed time zone: Central Time (US & Canada) change

17:30 - 18:20
17:30
50m
Talk
Envisioning CS1 and CS2: The Future of Introductory Problem Solving and Programming
Birds of a Feather
Gerald Gannod Tennessee Tech University, David Bunde Knox College, April Crockett Tennessee Tech University, Alan Sussman University of Maryland, Sushil Prasad University of Texas San Antonio, Charles Weems University of Massachusetts, Ramachandran Vaidyanathan Louisiana State University, Suzanne Matthews United States Military Academy, Jaime Spacco Knox College