Often reduced to a result of personal choice, women have faced historical exclusion, a lack of representation, and implicit bias in computer science/technology fields. The visibility and legitimacy of women in computer science is hindered by the shifts in perception, lack of acknowledgement in education, and media portrayals. Particularly, giving legitimacy to myths of biological determinism results in harmful narratives in the aptitude of women and their belonging. This poster presents preliminary findings in determining the efficacy of an approach being deployed in some ethics courses in one computer science department. While the department has initiatives in place to foster an inclusive and equitable learning environment, this research may identify areas where the curriculum or discussions fall short in reshaping the narrative surrounding the representation of women in computer science.

This innovative practice paper explores two differing approaches to the use of artificial intelligence tools in computer science classrooms. Artificial Intelligence (AI), while not a new technology, has seen a rise in popularity over the past two years, with companies such as OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft making readily available generative AI tools for anyone to use. This surge in AI popularity has led to a rise in its use in educational settings, in some cases allowed and in others discouraged or disallowed. A debate has risen among academics, particularly in higher education, about what AI's place in education is, with some educators actively encouraging its use while others view the use of AI as a form of academic dishonesty. Given AI is only advancing and is becoming more prevalent, it will only continue to become a more dominant force throughout education and the world at large. This paper presents two educators' distinct viewpoints and experiences on how AI should be handled in computer science courses (absolutely forbidden vs. decriminalized). The goal of this paper is to present different perspectives as well as concrete experiences we have had with AI in our own classrooms to encourage others to consider their own positions on its use and its implications for their own learning environments. While the debate on the place of AI in education is a long way from being settled, educators need to think about making choices, clearly articulating policies, and evaluating the positives and negatives of positions about AI in their classrooms.

The varying skill levels of students in entry-level university programming courses complicates an already challenging task for instructors. Combining students of differing skill levels into a single course can have negative impact on the classroom experience making some students feel inadequate compared to their peers. Prior to 2018, our large four-year R1 research university in the United States had a single lower-division programming sequence. Since only a single sequence existed all students (both majors and non-majors) were grouped together in the same courses. In this paper we analyze the impact of developing a dual lower division programming course sequence and deploying a placement exam. Our analysis tracks student performance in upper division courses over the first five years of the dual track programming course sequence, and we present the performance difference based upon the particular track the students take.

In anticipation of an ABET accreditation visit, our computer science department contracted with an independent external testing organization to perform an assessment of our students' proficiency in computer science. We used this external assessment to supplement our own internal assessment and have continued using since our site visit. In this paper, we talk about the comprehensive test, how it was administered, the steps we took to validate the results of the external assessment, and how we integrated the results into our ABET self-study report. We also explore insights we gained from the testing about our program and our students, as well as some of the limitations of the test.

In anticipation of an ABET accreditation visit, our computer science department contracted with an independent external testing organization to perform an assessment of our students' proficiency in computer science. We used this external assessment to supplement our own internal assessment. The exam was easy to administer and covered multiple student outcomes. In addition, our analysis of the exam results showed high correlation between course performance and exam performance.

This Innovative Practice Work in Progress describes initial efforts in developing computer programming classes for students with high-functioning autism. From the students' perspective, technical skills appear to be the focus in these classes, yet we create opportunities for students to work on social skills.

Hackathons bring developers, artists and designers together around a shared challenge: ideate, plan and create an application in a highly constrained time frame. A way to socialize, solve problems, and strengthen soft and hard skills, hackathons have grown tremendously in popularity in the last half decade. Despite this growth, it has been noted that females do not participate in hackathons with the same frequency as males. Some theorize that the hackathon culture is intimidating, does not appeal to women, or that it acts to amplify pre-existing cultural biases in computing. In this paper we introduce an alternative format for hackathons to address these issues. Think Global Hack Local (TGHL) is a non-competitive, community-based hackathon that connects non-profit organizations with student developers. Students donate a weekend to solve problems that these organizations otherwise lack the resources to solve. To date, there have been two TGHL hackathons, and we have observed many interesting divergences within the culture of TGHL in comparison to other hackathons. Response has been positive, and nearly all of them indicate that they would do it again. By adopting some of these ideas, we believe that hackathons can become an environment that is more inclusive and fun for all.