acm Inroads • inroads.acm.org 77 SIGCSE: Open Challenges Five Big Open Questions in Computing Education Kim B. Bruce, Pomona College C ertainly, there is no shortage of problems in computer science education. Te difculty is narrowing them down to just a few of the most important. Before I lay out those I fnd most signifcant and challenging, let me explain where I’m coming from. First, and most importantly, my research specialty is the theory and design of programming languages, rather than computer science education, though I do have a deep commitment to computer science education. My contributions have mainly been in the areas of curricular design and the design of introductory courses in computer science. Tis background should help put in context the concerns I highlight here. 1. HOW CAN WE DEAL WITH SKYROCKETING ENROLLMENT IN CS UNDERGRADUATE COURSES? Certainly, the most pressing problem for the feld now is how to deal with the overwhelming increases in enrollments in com- puter science. While the degree of change difers between in- stitutions, nearly all are seeing increases, with some seeing the number of CS majors increasing by as much as factors of 5 to 10. While it’s not completely clear what the cause is—residual efects of the great recession, an understanding of the centrality of computing to many parts of society, an increase in students from lower-income families, or second-generation immigrants who are more occupationally focused—the efects are plain to see. Virtually every institution is struggling to ofer more sec- tions, capping classes, increasing the size of classes, or all three. Te possible solutions for colleges and universities fall into three broad categories—increase the size of the faculty, cap the number of students, or increase the ratio of students to faculty. Others have written eloquently about this problem and I refer you to their analyses [3,7,8]. Tus, I’ll limit myself to a few brief remarks. Expanding faculty is hard, slow, and will take serious incentives to attract more people to the profession. Capping enrollments frustrates everyone and goes against the huge de- mand for CS education. Students learn less efectively in large classes. Modern techniques like peer instruction can help as classes become even larger but can’t make up for the diference between large and small classes. Finally, alternative ways of educating students (e.g., MOOCs and code academies) are unlikely to have a major impact on the problem. MOOCs seem most efective with college graduates who are highly motivated to learn specifc skills. Code acade- mies vary widely in quality [8], but most aim at teaching narrow skills with current technology, rather than the depth of knowl- edge typically obtained with a degree in computer science. Sim- ilarly, asking faculty from other departments to teach CS (as they often do with statistics) generally causes more articulation problems than it helps. It appears there are no simple answers, but this is a crisis we must address. 2. HOW CAN WE MAKE CS COURSES MORE INCLUSIVE? Look around at nearly any computer science department and you will immediately notice that the students are mainly White and Asian males. While most CS departments do not actively discourage women and under-represented minorities, there are actions that can be taken to make underrepresented groups more successful. For example, research indicates that those who are less confdent in their abilities in an area (no matter what their actual ability level) are more likely to give up in frustration and quit, especially when society views them as less capable [14]. Providing support at all stages of education can make a sig- nifcant diference in retaining those capable of succeeding, but lacking confdence. Having an instructor who knows the student and can provide encouragement and support where needed can change a student’s trajectory from failure to suc- cess. Sadly, the huge increase in enrollments discussed earlier seems to be causing a reversal of some of the improvements we had been seeing in CS classes. Tere has been a lot of work in recent years to make com- puter science more welcoming of women, with some success at institutions like Carnegie-Mellon University and Harvey Mudd College. Yet, with the percentage of female CS majors under 20% across the country, there is clearly much room for im- provement. Departments that have succeeded have had more control over admissions than most departments and have de- voted a great deal of energy to make women feel welcome and an important part of the department.