Intercollegiate Research Team to Modernize First-Year CS Curriculum
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A collaborative effort led by Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) Professor Charles Weems and Associate Chair for Teaching Development and Senior Teaching Faculty Neena Thota, has secured a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in support of their project that seeks to update first-year computer science curricula by incorporating parallel and distributed concepts, to reflect the modern computational landscape.
Currently, many computer science programs continue to emphasize a sequential and local model of computing that predates the 21st century. This approach falls short of preparing students for the contemporary demands of the software development industry, which heavily relies on parallelism, distribution, asynchrony, scaling, and integration across various systems and data sources.
In a comprehensive stakeholder input study funded by the NSF, multiple employer groups, including national labs, government agencies, and industry leaders, expressed concerns that most students lack the necessary skills to thrive in today's computing environment. This deficiency impacts national security, research and development, and cyberinfrastructure sectors, costing the U.S. economy an estimated $880 billion annually.
“Currently, the standard introductory curriculum teaches only sequential algorithmic problem solving, using local data sources that are text-based. That involves teaching older coding patterns that are rarely used in practice. Data structures are built from primitive types, usually with weakly engineered APIs to save time,” says Weems. “Once students are given this mindset, it necessitates six months to two years of additional onboarding training before new graduates become productive developers.”
To address these challenges, the team, which includes researchers from the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Maryland, Louisiana State University, Tennessee Tech, and Knox College, aims to create model first-year courses that employ modern computational principles with hopes to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of integrating parallel and distributed computing (PDC) concepts into the curriculum. The effort is structured around three primary objectives:
Course Development and Testing: The team will design and rigorously test courses that incorporate PDC concepts to serve as models for how foundational computer science education can be modernized.
Instructor Training: To ensure these new courses can be widely adopted, the project includes training instructors from a diverse set of six additional institutions. This training will equip educators with the knowledge and skills needed to implement the new curriculum effectively.
Evaluation and Refinement: The team will document and refine the courses based on rigorous feedback from the partner institutions to ensure that the courses are effective and can be adapted to various educational contexts.
“Our hope is that students will begin their studies with a model of computation that more closely aligns with modern systems and their day-to-day experience of them so that their coursework feels more relevant and they can be more productive in internships, as well as being more attractive to employers,” says Weems. “We see this foundation as enabling upper-level courses to build on it, with coverage of parallel and distributed algorithms, easier entry into underlying systems concepts, the ability to tackle projects in data science, AI, graphics, embedded systems, etc., that rely on packages with sophisticated APIs and networked resources, and a better understanding of API design and testing.”
Weems has been a member of the UMass Amherst faculty since 1984 and is a recipient of the University Distinguished Teaching Award. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and a recipient of the IEEE Computer Society’s Taylor Booth award for distinguished contributions to computer science education, an ACM Distinguished Educator, and a member of the Computer Science Teachers Association.
Thota joined the CICS faculty in 2016. Her research interests are in computing education research, educational technologies, learning and assessment taxonomies, and methodological frameworks for research. She currently serves as director of the CICS Early Research Scholars Program (ESRP).
