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Improving Diversity in Computing by Teaching Humanitarian Free and Open Source

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Improving Diversity in Computing by Teaching Humanitarian Free and Open Source
FOSSY 2023

Meeting the strong demand for computing professionals will require attracting and retaining more students in computing degree programs. Women and people of color are significantly underrepresented among computing students, and these groups provide an opportunity to both create a more equitable discipline and meet the need for more computing graduates. In order to attract more of these students, computing educators must improve the quality, appeal and student success rate in computing degree programs. This presentation discusses an education effort that helps to address this challenge by expanding the community of faculty incorporating Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software (HFOSS) into computing education. HFOSS education provides a collaborative environment that supports active learning with real-world tasks. Students gain both technical and professional skills while also acquiring a first-hand understanding of the potential for computing to have both social relevance and positive societal impact. The ability of computing to “do good” has been shown to attract women and other underrepresented groups into computing disciplines. The project is intended to have broader impact in the following areas: a) improving student retention and expanding appeal to women and underrepresented groups; b) providing real-world learning of professional and technical skills in a complex, authentic environment that prepares students for professional practice; c) extending understanding of the impact of HFOSS pedagogy and approaches on student and instructor role and identities; and d) increasing student understanding of the potential of computing to improve the human condition and in student awareness of professional responsibility. Initial work has included several surveys of undergraduate students (209 and 360 participants) that indicate women and underrepresented groups are more strongly motivated by the humanitarian nature of HFOSS projects. The presentation will include results of these surveys and discussion of HFOSS education as an approach to making computing more diverse while also advancing student knowledge of open source.

Speakers: Heid Ellis Grant Braught