Repositioning CS Increasing Diversity and Creativity in Computer

Repositioning CS Increasing Diversity and Creativity in Computer Science Education.

Why I’m Here ► John Nordlinger (MSR) ► Kim Pallister (MS WGGT) ► Chris Butcher (Bungie) ► Casey Muratori (Molly. Rocket)

Why I’m Here ► John Nordlinger (MSR) ► Kim Pallister (MS WGGT) ► Chris Butcher (Bungie) ► Casey Muratori (Molly. Rocket) Passionate About Games!

What I Do ► Ph. D § § § in CS @ Northwestern University Robotics Art & Technology AI and Games ► Thesis: Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment

Also… ► GDC, § § § IGDA, etc. Study Games & Game Development Teach Game Design and Tuning Conduct Academic Outreach

Goals ► Confront technical problems ► Consider the design perspective ► Facilitate interdisciplinary dialog ► Diversity, diversity

Making Another Me ► Exposure § K-8, 9 -12 § Undergraduate § Graduate ► Connections ► New Directions

Repositioning CS ►A foundation for procedural thinking ► Extended via interdisciplinary work ► Applied to real-world problems ► Attract (and keep) new folks

The Wonder Years

1984 ► Dad: Nuclear Engineer, TQM ► Mom: Historian, Basket Weaver ► Brother: Music, Sports ► Me: Cosmos and Cartoons

Mac Gyver & Indiana Jones ► Tinkering § Making new stuff § Taking apart stuff ► Exploring § Climbing things § Getting lost § Archeology

Games! ► ATARI ► NES/SNES ► M. U. L. E

Games! ► ATARI ► NES/SNES ► M. U. L. E Property of: Your Brother!

“Gifted” ► Separate course, once a week ► Stories with holes, brain teasers ► Computer Typing Game § Early Mac § Limited exposure § No notion of programming

Skidmore Summers ► Make Stuff! ► Use Computers to draw! § Again, limited access § Focus on “special” or “gifted” kids § Never tied to programming or math

Night and Day ► Science § In school § Fixed § About them ► Art § Outside § Flexible § About me!

The Life of the Mind

7 -12: Ugh! ► Aptitude in math and science ► Increased focus on humanities and extracurriculars (yearbook, literature) ► Decreased overall enthusiasm

Camp Saves the Day (Again) ► Homerton College, Cambridge UK § Poetry and Creative Writing § Fine Art and Photography § William Blake § Computers! ► Art vs. Liberal Arts

Programming as a Liberal Art ► Bill Sterner & Don Crabb ► Aristotle, Turing, Turkle, Tversky ► Ecologies and Architecture ► Creating new artifacts

Choose Your Own Adventure ► General Studies in the Humanities § Film § Fine Art § Oral/Historical Narrative § Women’s Studies § Computer Programming ► Focus: Storytelling and memory

No CS Major ► Take classes ► Seek mentors ► Experiment This worked pretty well!

Lab Work ► AI § Stories as memory (CBR) § Context/Remindings § Opportunism/Learning ► Games ► Graduate Studies?

Connections

Grad School? ► Women in CS ► Should I take the plunge? ► Ellen Spertus § Math Lovers Only!

Grad School? ► Women in CS ► Should I take the plunge? ► Ellen Spertus § Math Lovers Only! I AM STUBBORN.

Grad School! ► Day: Basics § Traditional CS curriculum § Individual assignments ► Night: Projects § KR and IR systems § Pair-wise, often § Architecture and Interface Design § Games

Grad School II ► New School ► New Group ► New Areas § Narrative Intelligence § Game Studies § Game AI

New Community ► Opportunities to volunteer ► Explore new ideas ► Learn from each other ► Make better games

New Resources ► Indie Game Jam ► Experimental Gameplay Workshop ► Game Design Workshop

Familiar Challenges ► IGDA § Education Committee § Women. Dev § Student Mentoring

Theory and Practice ► Working with people ► Towards a common goal ► Using procedural knowledge to communicate about hard problems ► Improving the community as a whole

However ► Publishing? ► Funding? ► Long-term value?

Repositioning CS

Enrollment ► Why is it falling? ► How to people think about CS? ► What can we do about it?

Why CS? ► Accessible? ► Expressive? ► Useful? ► Enjoyable? ► Profitable?

CS as a Discipline ► Credibility, Specialization & Focus ► Common Languages & Styles

CS as a Discipline ► Credibility, Specialization & Focus ► Common Languages & Styles ► Boundaries and Inertia ► Stereotypes § Dark room, screen full of code

CS as a Tool ► Expertise is awesome but…. § Teach tools first § Polish & craft later ► Start early § Stories with holes § Scientific method ► Expand view of machines ► Highlight procedural thinking

Expression and Impact ► Project Choice § Art Class, Camp, etc. ► What does your work say about you? ► What you have to show it? ► Real world applications?

Support ► Trailblazing is nice ► Bridges may be better § Journals and conferences § Web sites, mailing lists and student groups § Travel and internship programs

Integration ► Core values

Integration ► Core values ► Community

Integration ► Core values ► Community ► Projects

Integration ► Core values ► Community ► Projects § Assess Problems § Share Knowledge § Create Solutions

Game Curriculums ► Digipen ► CMU ► MIT ► USC ► IT Copenhagen ► Others

Other Areas ► Robotics ► Biology ► Chemistry ► Environmental Science ► Economics and Business ► Design and Innovations Research…

What about… ► Film ► Fine Art ► Music ► Theatre and Performance ► Gender and Cultural Studies ► Critical Theory

Animate Arts ► Bauhaus model ► Scheme-based tools ► Demystify procedural thinking ► Reinforce creative drives …Service-oriented approach

Inspiration ► New contributors ► Cross-pollination ► Long-term relationships ► Groundbreaking work

Questions? IGDA: www. igda. org GDC: www. gdcon. com EGW: www. experimental-gameplay. com IGJ: www. indiegamejam. com Or… www. cs. northwestern. edu/~hunicke