2016 NCWIT Summit – NCWIT EngageCSEdu Engagement Excellence Awards

Headshot of Maggie Johnson Director of education and university relations with Google
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[applauding] [energetic music]

MAGGIE: Thank you, Avis. Good morning.

AUDIENCE: Good morning.

MAGGIE: So on behalf of Google, I really appreciate the opportunity to present these awards today. It is so important to engage and inspire girls in computing and technology, and retain young women in undergraduate programs. Not only does it provide great employment opportunities and career pathways, but it gives them a critical voice in the design and implementation of innovative technologies that everyone is using. Right now, that voice is really very small, and we really want it to be much more amplified and much bigger. NCWIT EngageCSEdu is a growing collection of materials for introductory computer science courses that are created by and for faculty members. These peer-reviewed materials employ a number of engagement practices that research suggests are likely to engage all students, particularly girls and members of underrepresented groups. With funding support from Google, NCWIT has established the EngageCSEdu Excellence Awards that recognize faculty who are making a difference for all computing faculty by actively helping to grow and maintain this collection. Each winner receives a $5000 cash award. So when I call your name, please come up to the stage to accept your award. First we have Elizabeth Boese, a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado in Boulder. She is recognized for her– [audience applauds] Thank you. Please. She is recognized for her project on using programming to analyze real human DNA. Using diet and DNA sequencing data, this assignment has students explore computing concepts in a captivating way and see the meaningful contributions that computing makes to solving real-world problems. The project employs effective pedagogical techniques, such as pair programming, and engages students at multiple skill levels. Congratulations, Elizabeth. [audience applauds] Mark LeBlanc is a professor of computer science in the Department of Math and Computer Science at Wheaton College. He is recognized for his set of assignments applying computational analysis to poetry. Okay. [audience applauds] Okay, in these assignments, which are appropriately called Computing for Poets, students artfully bend poetry using programming and algorithmic thinking by making interdisciplinary connections. This highly creative set of assignments helps students see the relevance of computing in their day-to-day lives. In addition, the assignments have well-defined learning goals, scaffold problem solving activities by students, and offer flexibility for a variety of instructors and students. Congratulations, Mark. [audience applauds]

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