Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

Abstract

Welcome to the proceedings of the 42nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, or SIGCSE 2011, where you will find the archival record of over one hundred papers as well as multiple other session formats that document the latest in computer science education: research, tool building, teaching, curriculum and philosophy. This year, a number of sessions address the symposium theme of reaching out. We need to reach to colleagues in other fields, to develop interdisciplinary courses and research projects that integrate computer science and other fields, enriching both. We need to reach to create programs that attract and educate the next generation of computer scientists, especially currently underserved populations. We need to reach to policy makers, educating them on the importance and promise of our discipline. Finally, we need to reach to each other, as always, to share our best ideas and experiences. We are pleased to announce the winners of the two annual SIGCSE awards. Trustee Professor Matthias Felleisen of Northeastern University will receive the SIGCSE award for Outstanding Contribution to CS Education, and will provide the opening keynote address. Gordon Davies of the Open University will accept the SIGCSE Award for Lifetime Service to the CS Education Community and speak at our First Timer's Lunch. In addition, we've invited two keynote speakers to highlight our reaching out theme. Susan Landau, fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, will give Friday's address on A Computer Scientist Goes to Washington: How to be Effective in a World Where Facts are 10% of the Equation. Luis von Ahn, professor at Carnegie Mellon University and researcher at Google, will address Saturday's luncheon with Three Human Computation Projects. Symposium statistics are presented below. Many thanks to the authors, reviewers, and Program Committee members whose enormous and vital service generated this program. This year's program includes the usual wide selection of events, including the First-Timer's Lunch and Evening Reception on Thursday and the SIGCSE luncheon on Saturday. Our exhibit hall features a number of exhibitors showcasing the latest in hardware, software tools, textbooks and educational programs and research. We continue to increase accessibility at SIGCSE 2011 for the deaf and hard of hearing. We are offering our traditional Wednesday preconference workshops for department chairs and new educators, and we are excited about our additional Wednesday pre-symposium events on: Program By Design - Bootstrap, TeachScheme, ReachJava, and Beyond, the CSTA Source Web Repository Cataloging Workshop, Programming with Alice 2.2 and 3, Microsoft Research's Hawaii Project, Innovative Approaches to Introducing Computer Science, Managing the Academic Career for Women Faculty in Undergraduate Computing Programs, SIGCAS Open Meeting, Teaching Professional Ethics in Computer Science, and the 3rd Annual Humanitarian FOSS Symposium. On Friday during the lunch period, the UPE will present their annual Abacus Award to Donald Knuth, with a special talk by the awardee. On Saturday, top undergraduate and graduate students will present their work at the ACM SIGCSE Student Research Competition, managed by Ann Sobel.