Information Technology Education

My friend Kevin, a physics student from Australia, likes to ask me random questions over Facebook chat. Kevin: What are the main opportunities and purposes of programming? (besides doing numerical calculations) Me: The way I see it is that the ability to do calculations quickly lets you automate all sorts of processes. That sounds boring, but the possibilities are endless-- You can do all the tasks you did before, but faster and more precisely. This allows you to tackle complex tasks like creating graphics or large number crunching  or predictive programs that can put things into categories based on data they've already seen. Plus, this ability to automate illuminates new possibilities that people didn't think of before. I'm not sure anyone thought it was possible to model individual molecules of a cell membrane + all the surrounding water—— but with fast computers and the ability to harness them through programming, you can! So certainly that is the most straightforward th...

I was very excited when one of the CS professors in my department, who had admitted he wasn't sure about the causes of gender disparity in CS, accepted my offer to share what I knew. Studying this topic has been my hobby since I stepped into my first core major CS classes and wondered where all the women went. I've found that professors and others often want to talk about or implement their idea for a partial solution, like a mentoring program or curriculum changes, right away, without taking time to look over the root causes. It was encouraging that this professor was open to learning about the research in the field before taking action. I based the main arc of my presentation on a book chapter by Whitecraft and Williams that Greg Wilson of Software Carpentry was kind enough to forward to me. It's an evenhanded look at much of the research in this area, including theories that are often out of favor in most places I frequent. It served as a great overview, though I felt i...

I was thinking about perceptions of Computer Science and I remembered a particular event in my junior year. A friend told me he had just heard a great song that reminded him of me, since I was studying Computer Science. He messaged me a link to "Code Monkey" by Jonathan Coulton. Thanks? [via  JoCopedia ] The melody is great, and the lyrics are compelling—I've listened to it on repeat writing this post. But it's also a handy way to remember almost every stereotype of Computer Science work and workers. I thanked my friend, but internally I was a touch offended at the connection being drawn between my field and primate-level glorified keyboard smashing. Even more internally though, I worried that maybe the song held some truth about my future if I pursued a job in software engineering. Are all stereotypes based at least a little bit on reality? Code Monkey get up get coffee Code Monkey go to job Code Monkey have boring meeting With boring manager Rob Rob say Code Monkey...