How is EngageCSEdu different from other online repositories for computer science education?

EngageCSEdu publishes high-quality, engaging, classroom-tested Open Educational Resources (OER’s) for computer science education with a focus on materials for introductory courses in computing. We seek novel contributions that are accessible and of interest to teachers at either a secondary or post-secondary level. Resources must have been implemented in an authentic educational environment. All materials in the collection must use at least one research-based engagement mechanism aimed at increasing diversity and inclusion, e.g., culturally responsive pedagogy, or an engagement practice from the NCWIT engagement framework. Many things influence whether a student chooses to study computing but having a great experience in introductory courses is key.

What does EngageCSEdu contain?

The collection is a repository of open educational resources (OERs), otherwise known as instructional materials, for computing courses. We currently support open rolling submissions for CS0 (breadth first introduction to computing similar the US AP CS Principles course), CS1 (introductory programming), Data Structures, and Discrete Math. We also accept OER submissions for special issues in other course/subject areas.  We accept course materials such as assignments, tutorials, labs, assessments, lecture notes, exercises and projects. We do not accept submissions for an entire course - instead, we want very granular OERs to encourage adaptation and re-use by others.

Who should use EngageCSEdu?

The collection will be useful to anyone who is teaching, or planning to teach, a computing course, from tenured professors to teaching assistants, from R1 university professors to high school teachers, from experienced teachers looking for new ideas to new instructors needing some expert guidance.

Who owns and manages EngageCSEdu?

EngageCSEdu is now owned by ACM and is a funded ACM Education Board project. It was initially owned and developed by the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) with funding from Google.

What is the primary goal of EngageCSEdu?

There are two goals associated with EngageCSEdu:

1) A venue for publishing the scholarly work associated with the creation and development of instructional materials associated with computing courses. Within computer science and associated disciplines many faculty work in a teaching-stream position where their primary scholarly output are the assignments, lecture notes, assessments, etc. from their classrooms. These creative, carefully crafted materials may represent hours of development time and have been honed to teach specific concepts in engaging ways. Offering a publication venue for these materials allows for peer-review, with feedback, as well as sharing of materials.

2) To support the retention of women and other underrepresented groups in computing. Ultimately, we want to help grow a more diverse computing workforce. Many things influence whether a student chooses to continue to study computer science. A key factor is being exposed to engaging curriculum that is both relevant and meaningful to a student’s life. And the first year courses are some of the most important since they establish a student’s attitudes toward the field and influence whether they will choose CS as a major. This is especially true for women.

Do I have to pay for access to EngageCSEdu?

No, access to EngageCSEdu is not restricted, and all content on the site is under open license. All materials within EngageCSEdu have a Creative Commons License allowing for non-commercial re-use at a minimum.

What does the label “Engagement Excellence” mean?

Some of the resources are designated with the “Engagement Excellence” banner. This was done under NCWIT ownership and means that a committee of computer scientists and social/learning scientists have determined that the material makes an especially creative or effective use of a particular Engagement Practice, or does a good job of integrating multiple practices. About 10% of the collection is so designated.

Can I contribute my own course materials to EngageCSEdu?

Absolutely! The process works very similarly to submitting an article to a peer-reviewed journal or conference.

Each OER consists of two parts:

1) a 1 or 2-page paper whose audience is the instructor or teacher. The paper provides an overview of the purpose of the instructional materials along with implementation recommendations and helpful advice. Authors may include student feedback on the assignment as one of the paper sections, if available.  Please use one of the ACM EngageCSEdu paper templates.

2) The paper is accompanied by the student-facing materials (including the specification and any starter code) which should be made available in an anonymized format for review. The authors may also provide additional instructor-facing materials (such as grading rubrics or autograder code) to complement the summary paper. We require all materials to be submitted directly rather than as links to instructor-maintained repositories or websites. Although a submission may contain links to reference material, all supplementary materials which are considered to be part of the submission during the review process and accepted for publication must be stored on the ACM EngageCSEdu site. 

Once submitted, the Editors-in-Chief will do a pre-review to ensure that the material is within scope and meets the minimum review guidelines. It will then be sent out for peer review by both computer science educators and social/learning scientists.

Please contact the editors at engagecsedu@acm.org for instructions on submitting and any other questions related to the project.

Which of my materials for teaching introductory CS concepts are appropriate for the EngageCSEdu collection?

The goal of this collection is to compile introductory CS course materials that research suggests are likely to engage a diverse student body. Consider the following questions in deciding what to contribute:

• Does the material place the CS concepts in a context that a wide-range of students would find meaningful and relevant to their lives? For example, the material connects the CS concept to the ‘real world’ or makes interesting connections to other fields or disciplines that students find interesting.
• Does the material help students learn the targeted computer science concepts as well or better than other materials you have seen? What are your best assignments or lectures, the ones that always seem to work?
• Is the material creative or innovative in the way it approaches teaching the targeted CS concepts compared to other materials you have seen? Do you have a new take on something? An unusual example or novel teaching approach?
• And it almost goes without saying. . .but we’ll say it anyway: Is the material free of stereotypes (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, class)? By this, we mean that is it free of "fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people" (Cardwell, 1996). Is the material free from references or language that would likely evoke “stereotype threat” for some students? Stereotype threat can occur when an individual’s membership in a group that is stereo-typically seen as comparatively deficient in a particular setting is evoked or highlighted, leading to a self-fulfilling prophesy of decreased performance. Even well-intentioned references can trigger stereotype threat (e.g., "All of the women in the class did really well on the project!“).

Also consider using EngageCSEdu as a dissemination mechanism for your grant-supported curriculum projects. Select an exemplar to submit. If it's accepted to the collection, we can link out to your project website. EngageCSEdu can help instructors find your materials.

Who owns the course material contributed to EngageCSEdu?

When a faculty member contributes material to the collection, they are asked to specify a Creative Commons license. Ownership and copyright always remain with the author.

How can I get involved?

There are several ways you can get involved. First, contribute your best introductory course materials. Second, join the reviewer pool. Third, tell others about the project! Contact us at engagecsedu@acm.org to volunteer.