Computer Science Education Act of 2010
School boards all over the country decided long ago that biology, chemistry, and physics are vital components of a basic scientific education. I took all 3 in high school but didn’t have the chance to study computer science until college. I have long believed that computer science is just as essential a science and needs to be taken just as seriously. Luckily, Rep. Jared Polis thinks so, too. He recently introduced HR 5929, the Computer Science Education Act, intended to assess and improve computer science K–12 education.
Among other important changes, HR 5929 will help to establish computer science courses as an integral part of a high-school curriculum. Currently, only Texas and Georgia allow computer science to count towards math and science graduation requirements. Elsewhere, computer science—if it’s offered at all—is an elective only.
Low participation in high school, whether by choice or by circumstance, engenders low participation in higher education. Polis’s bill focuses particularly on underrepresented groups in computer science, especially when it comes to Advanced Placement testing. In 2008, 17% of AP computer science test takers were women and 4% of AP computer science test takers were African-Americans. These numbers are far below the representation of women and African-Americans in most AP tests.
When I walked into my first freshman computer science class, it was 1998 and only a few of my classmates had done any programming or otherwise delved into the underpinnings of computing. I felt a little behind, but I was certainly not alone. Now, with computers as ubiquitous as they are, would a student who didn’t study computer science (AP or otherwise) in high school even take the class in college? With only 17.7% of computer science bachelor’s degrees going to women, and 10.3% going to African-Americans, both numbers down from previous years, I think the answer is no.
Offering computer science courses—and accepting them as science requirements—doesn’t mean that every student will become a computer scientist. High school biology, for example, didn’t spark a love of life science in me. I have long since repressed all my memories that involved frog dissection, and so, I suspect, have many of my classmates. But the girl who shared the scalpel with me? She’s a doctor now. Offering science gives students the opportunity to love it.
I’m going to call my congresswoman this week and express my support for HR 5929. What do you think of it?
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Go Bears! UC Berkeley considering online degree option
Christopher Edley, dean of the University of California at Berkeley, has proposed a fully-online undergraduate degree program. The idea has been met with some skepticism within and outside of Berkeley. Personally, I think it’s a fantastic idea for schools to improve educational opportunities to students in all kinds of circumstances who, for all kinds of reasons, can’t complete a traditional on-campus program.
As someone who struggled to go to college as a working adult, I would have loved to have had an online option. Sometimes I worked nights and dragged myself, half-asleep and desperately clutching the biggest cup of coffee I could get my hands on, from the graveyard shift to the morning class. Sometimes I worked days and dashed from work to school to work to school to work. Once, I nearly failed an oral exam because the professor ran out of time to question everyone and I couldn’t stay after class or come early for the next one.
My college experience was not unique, of course. There are many more like me. And we’re the lucky ones—we may miss out on dorm life and study groups, but we still get to learn. Those in less-fortunate circumstances are precluded from attending college altogether. At least I was able to find a job with hours that allowed me to go to class. At least I had a loving and supportive husband who didn’t mind my absenteeism and frequent crankiness. At least I lived and worked in close proximity to my school. At least I had no children to support, aging parents to look after, or disabilities to overcome. Online degrees create opportunities for students who aren’t as lucky as I was. My own alma mater—small, urban, and under-resourced—probably won’t be able to offer an online degree. But a school like Berkeley, with its size and resources, can make a real difference in a lot of lives.
Some argue that the online version of an undergraduate degree is watered down; you miss out on the social experiences and lively after-class discussions that make college the horizon-broadening adventure it’s meant to be. In some cases that may be true, but some of us miss that stuff anyway and still get a great education. Not only that, but it’s hard to imagine that any degree offered by Berkeley could be subpar. I hope they follow through with this idea and open the doors of education to many more students.
What do you think of fully-online degree programs?
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Broadband Access: The new Rural Electrification
When I was a teenager in small-town Vermont, my family couldn’t get cable television at home. The technology was around, of course, it just wasn’t profitable for Adelphia to lay so much cable through all that nature for so few customers. Devastating for me at the time, but not, all in all, a big deal. Nowadays, however, there are similar rural communities all over the country that cannot get high-speed Internet connections for the same reasons—and that is a very big deal.
Because we use it as much for entertainment as for vital communication (I do, anyway), it is easy to see Internet access—especially broadband—as a luxury and not a necessity. Perhaps that used to be the case, but times have changed. Broadband is needed in all kinds of ways, just as electricity was needed when the Rural Electrification Act was passed in 1936:
- Kids need it. Much as I love Facebook and Hulu, the Internet is about far more than that, even for teenagers. Young people need broadband to study, communicate, and keep up with their connected peers. The later in life you begin to cross the digital divide, the longer the journey is.
- Farmers need it. On a farm, broadband is today what electricity was in 1936. Back then, farmers needed electricity to run new equipment such as threshers and milking machines. Now, they need the Internet to communicate with suppliers and customers, get weather updates and commodities information.
- Everyone else needs it. The way I see it, I wouldn’t have a job without my high-speed connection—I wouldn’t be able to find one! I need broadband to look for work, to keep in touch with networking contacts, and to research companies. My counterpart in a rural community, with dial-up or nothing, is at a definite disadvantage.
For all these reasons, I was glad to see this week that President Obama’s administration announced nearly $795 million in grants and loans for increasing broadband access all over the country, particularly for rural communities.
Obama has made a great start, but this funding comes from the stimulus bill—a one-time infusion of cash. Truly increasing broadband access will require a sustained effort, much like the Rural Electrification Act did. After all, it took us nearly 50 years to provide electricity and telephone service to most farms.
The focus on rural communities also narrows the scope. Broadband needs to be affordable as well as accessible. With an average monthly charge of $39, it’s not always enough to simply have the option there. A sustained effort could expand the scope to help out those families for whom broadband is too costly.
What do you think of expanding broadband access? Do you have a high-speed connection at home? Could you live without it (I couldn’t!)?
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Title IX Celebrates 38 Years
Growing up, did you play sports—-little league, soccer, maybe lacrosse? Maybe you’re a college player, or casual pickup gamer? No matter how you express your inner athlete, chances are that you have Title IX to thank, at least in part. That groundbreaking legislation created tremendous opportunities for women in sports. Its intention is not limited to sports alone, however, but aims at sex-based discrimination in all areas, including science and academics.
Title IX has been unambiguously successful. This past Wednesday marked the 38th anniversary of its passage, and in that time it has had a huge and direct impact on women’s participation in sports. Since Title IX passed in 1972, we have seen a 400 percent increase in the rate of female participation in college sports and a 800 percent increase in the rate of female participation in high school sports. Seriously. 800 percent.
I truly appreciate the barriers broken by enactment of Title IX. Without it, my high school might not have had the field hockey team I played sweep for, or the basketball team I warmed the bench for. I was no jock, but I loved being part of a team (especially when we won. Go Wasps!).
Title IX is not only about sports, however. It’s a broad law that bars sex-based discrimination from any institution receiving federal funding. Sports gets the attention, but the law absolutely includes academics as well.
Given the current proportion of women in science and engineering, we have a ways to go before we achieve parity between the sexes. In 2008, women accounted for only 17.5% of all Bachelor’s degrees awarded in my beloved field of Computer Science. Although that number is down from a high of 27.3% in 2002, it is vastly improved from our 9% share back in 1978.
It’s not parity I’m yearning for, though; I’m after equal opportunity. Title IX is—and has always been—about creating opportunities for women and girls. Prior to its passage, conventional wisdom held that girls weren’t interested in sports or “masculine” endeavors. Once we got the chance, though, we stormed the field. The storming hasn’t fully happened yet in science and engineering, but I believe it will some day. As we celebrate the anniversary of Title IX, I see the path forged by women athletes and hope that women scientists may yet follow.
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Celebrating Young Women in Computing
Recently, I reviewed four applications for the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Technology. The NCWIT Award acknowledges the computing achievements and aspirations of young women and generates visibility for women’s participation in computing-related pursuits. High school girls all over the country apply for this award, and I served as one of many reviewers for the Bay Area affiliate.
Although the the award is meant to inspire young women to achieve in computing, I found the young women inspiring me. The applications I reviewed tell stories of girls building robots and designing videogames. They lead their fellow students in workshops and mentor younger students. They take AP computer science courses during the school year and programming classes in the summer. Although you would expect that any high school student applying for this type of award is going to be an achiever, it was heartening to read about the dedication they have to computer science, mathematics, and robotics—not only in the learning, but in passing that dedication on to others. The applicants’ enthusiasm shone through to me, and I’m sure it does to their communities as well.
These young women, who I got to know a little through their application essays, had an impact on me. I hope that all of them continue to be interested in and enthusiastic about computing. Although I worry about the state of our field, with far too small a fraction of computer science and engineering degrees going to women, it’s hard not to be optimistic about our future after the NCWIT
awards. The next generation of women in our field is going to be amazing.
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