Computer Science | Grinnell College

At this Friday's session of Women in Computing / CS Table, we'll discuss elementary and secondary education in computer science. The readings are

• “Why Estonia has started teaching its first-graders to code”
  Parmy Olson, Forbes, September 6, 2012
  http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2012/09/06/why-estonia-has-started-teaching-its-first-graders-to-code/
• “Why your 8-year-old should be coding”
  Jolie O'Dell, Venture beat, April 12, 2013
  http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/12/why-your-8-year-old-should-be-coding/
• “Can Obama convince high schools to each kids to code?”
  Anthony Wing Kosner, Forbes, February 14, 2013
  http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/02/14/can-obama-convince-high-schools-to-teach-kids-to-code/

Computer Science Table is a weekly meeting of Grinnell College community members (students, faculty, staff, etc.) interested in discussing topics related to computing and computer science. CS Table meets Fridays at noon in the Day PDR (the first PDR at the top of the stairs in the Marketplace/Cafeteria, also known as Rosenfield 224A). Faculty, staff, and students on meal plans are expected to pay the cost of their meals. Students not on meal plans can charge their meals to the department.

On Thursday, April 18, Brooks Davis will discuss the architecture of new computers designed for research into computer systems and networks:

A team of more than thirty researchers from SRI International and the University of Cambridge have spent the last two years developing a pair of clean-slate processor designs and a supporting set of operating systems and programming language extensions. The primary goal of this work is increasing our ability to compartmentalize important -- but risky -- applications such as web browsers at a much finer scale than currently possible. Secondary goals include modernizing the process of hardware design, raising the bar for CPU research, and developing a platform for future work. This talk will discuss our goals in detail and our progress toward building a research platform to support them.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The talk, “Building a platform for modern systems research,” will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

At this Friday's session of Women in Computing / CS Table, we'll discuss “brogramming.” The readings are

• “Brogramming: the disturbing rise of frat culture in Silicon Valley”
  The week, April 30, 2012
  http://theweek.com/article/index/227356/brogramming-the-disturbing-rise-of-frat-culture-in-silicon-valley
• “‘Gangbang interviews’ and ‘bikini shots’: Silicon Valley's brogrammer problem”
  Tasmeem Raja, Mother Jones, April 26, 2012
  http://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/04/silicon-valley-brogrammer-culture-sexist-sxsw
• “Brograms and the power of vaporware”
  Marie Hicks, Computer History Museum, March 27, 2013
  http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/brograms-and-the-power-of-vaporware/

Computer Science Table is a weekly meeting of Grinnell College community members (students, faculty, staff, etc.) interested in discussing topics related to computing and computer science. CS Table meets Fridays at noon in the Day PDR (the first PDR at the top of the stairs in the Marketplace/Cafeteria, also known as Rosenfield 224A). Faculty, staff, and students on meal plans are expected to pay the cost of their meals. Students not on meal plans can charge their meals to the department.

On Thursday, April 11, Professor Henry Walker will describe the distinctive features of Grinnell's program in computer science:

Prospective students often ask why they should come to Grinnell to study computer science. Seniors and graduates ask what they can or should say to employers or graduate schools regarding how Grinnell's CS program is distinctive. This talk is designed to answer such questions by reviewing several characteristics of Grinnell's CS program:

• The advantages of B.A. degrees in computer science over more technical degrees
• Our introductory CS courses as “exemplars” in national curricular recommendations
• Comparing Grinnell's core CS courses with national recommendations
• The success rates in Grinnell's CS courses (by measures defined by national standards)
• The contribution of the activities of Grinnell's CS faculty to Grinnell's success
• How student-faculty interactions in CS lead to regional and national visibility
• Grinnell's track record in CS for graduate school, internships, careers in business/industry, etc.

Overall, this talk will highlight numerous ways in which Grinnell's CS program enjoys substantial success by many objective measures.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The talk, “Grinnell's competitive advantages in computer science,” will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

At this Friday's session of Women in Computing / CS Table, we'll discuss issues relating to women and video games. The readings are

• Brown, Janelle. “Girl gamers: sugar, spice, everything profitable?” Wired, November 19, 1996.
• Williams, Dmitri, Nicole Martins, Mia Consalvo, and James D. Ivory. “The virtual census: representations of gender, race and age in video games.” New media & society, 2009.
• Jenson, Jennifer, and Suzanne de Castell. “Gender, simulation, and gaming: research review and redirections.” Simulation & gaming, 2010.

Computer Science Table is a weekly meeting of Grinnell College community members (students, faculty, staff, etc.) interested in discussing topics related to computing and computer science. CS Table meets Fridays at noon in the Day PDR (the first PDR at the top of the stairs in the Marketplace/Cafeteria, also known as Rosenfield 224A). Faculty, staff, and students on meal plans are expected to pay the cost of their meals. Students not on meal plans can charge their meals to the department.

On Thursday, April 4, Aditi Roy 2013 will discuss the evaluation of recommendation algorithms:

While designing a recommendation algorithm for Kindle FreeTime Unlimited (a product which serves a subscription containing books, videos and apps to kids), I realized that there were many varied opinions on what the role of a good recommendation algorithm was. This talk will provide an overview of some of the popular approaches and algorithms used in the industry, the metrics used to evaluate recommendation algorithms, and the challenges involved in serving customers good recommendations.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The talk, “What is a good recommendations algorithm?” will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Henry Walker received the SIGCSE 2013 Award for Lifetime Service:

For dedication to the computing education community, including within SIGCSE and APCS, development of curricula and pedagogy, authoring articles and textbooks, creation and support of conference submission software, mentoring of students and faculty, and consulting with departments to advance excellence in computing education. — https://sigcse.org/sigcse/programs/awards/lifetime

At this Friday's session of Women in Computing / CS Table, we'll discuss perceptions of the underrepresentation of women in computer science. The readings are

• Lori Carter. 2006. Why students with an apparent aptitude for computer science don't choose to major in computer science. SIGCSE Bull. 38, 1 (March 2006), 27-31.
• Roli Varma. 2010. Why so few women enroll in computing? Gender and ethnic differences in students' perception. Computer Science Education 20, 4 (December 2010), 301-316.

Computer Science Table is a weekly meeting of Grinnell College community members (students, faculty, staff, etc.) interested in discussing topics related to computing and computer science. CS Table meets Fridays at noon in the Day PDR (the first PDR at the top of the stairs in the Marketplace/Cafeteria, also known as Rosenfield 224A). Faculty, staff, and students on meal plans are expected to pay the cost of their meals. Students not on meal plans can charge their meals to the department.

On Thursday, February 28, Professors Sam Rebelsky, Janet Davis, and Jerod Weinman will discuss the rationale for using media scripting in our introductory computer science course:

Grinnell's CSC 151 draws upon concepts of media computation to motivate students and to provide more visual feedback that helps students better understand the algorithms they write. At the same time, CSC 151 encourages students to think about computing (and image making) in multiple ways. In this talk, a preview of a talk we will give at the SIGCSE Symposium on Computer Science Education, we discuss the inception of the course, what we see as key design points of the course, and the ways in which we have assessed the efficacy of the course. Since the introduction of this new version of 151, we have seen significant increases in enrollment and diversity. Assessments suggest that the course helps students develop deep knowledge that is atypical of an introductory course and also builds confidence.

Refreshments will be served at 4:15 p.m. in the Computer Science Commons (Noyce 3817). The talk, “Building knowledge and confidence with mediascripting: a successful interdisciplinary approach to CS1,” will follow at 4:30 p.m. in Noyce 3821. Everyone is welcome to attend!

The reading for this Friday's session of Women in Computing / CS Table is

Gloria Childress Townsend. 2002. People who make a difference: mentors and role models. SIGCSE Bull. 34, 2 (June 2002), 57-61. DOI=10.1145/543812.543831

Computer Science Table is a weekly meeting of Grinnell College community members (students, faculty, staff, etc.) interested in discussing topics related to computing and computer science. CS Table meets Fridays at noon in the Day PDR (the first PDR at the top of the stairs in the Marketplace/Cafeteria, also known as Rosenfield 224A). Faculty, staff, and students on meal plans are expected to pay the cost of their meals. Students not on meal plans can charge their meals to the department.