U California San Diego Launches Computer Science Workshops for STEM Equity

The San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California, San Diego (SDSC) has partnered with local middle schools to offer a series of computer science workshops aimed at getting more female and minority students interested in computing.

The workshops kicked off last month with students from Granger Junior High School and National City Middle School.

"It was a wonderful learning experience for them, and all of the students expressed interest in taking more courses in computer science," said Art Lopez, a computer science and applications instructor at Sweetwater High School, which is in the same district as the participating students. "I was very impressed with their willingness to explore new computer skills, so hopefully we embedded a 'seed' of learning to cultivate future computer scientists. In fact many of them expressed interest in pursuing a career in computing."

Funded by a grant from the Parker Foundation and a consortium of local businesses called Connect, the program "dovetails with a larger program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) called ComPASS, for Computing Principles for All Students' Success," according to a release, that is designed to prepare instructors to teach computer science principles.

"San Diego's economy depends upon technology and innovation that impact nearly every job sector," said Diane Baxter, SDSC's director of education, in a prepared statement. "These workshops are all about getting more students, especially underrepresented ones, to learn the computational thinking skills that those jobs require. But most of all, we want them to engage in the fun and excitement of computing so they look forward to learning more as they continue their studies."

The next workshop will take place November 16 and will cover the basics of programming for Alice. Go to education.sdsc.edu to learn more.

About the Author

Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • student reading a book with a brain, a protective hand, a computer monitor showing education icons, gears, and leaves

    4 Steps to Responsible AI Implementation

    Researchers at the University of Kansas Center for Innovation, Design & Digital Learning (CIDDL) have published a new framework for the responsible implementation of artificial intelligence at all levels of education.

  • glowing digital brain interacts with an open book, with stacks of books beside it

    Federal Court Rules AI Training with Copyrighted Books Fair Use

    A federal judge ruled this week that artificial intelligence company Anthropic did not violate copyright law when it used copyrighted books to train its Claude chatbot without author consent, but ordered the company to face trial on allegations it used pirated versions of the books.

  • server racks, a human head with a microchip, data pipes, cloud storage, and analytical symbols

    OpenAI, Oracle Expand AI Infrastructure Partnership

    OpenAI and Oracle have announced they will develop an additional 4.5 gigawatts of data center capacity, expanding their artificial intelligence infrastructure partnership as part of the Stargate Project, a joint venture among OpenAI, Oracle, and Japan's SoftBank Group that aims to deploy 10 gigawatts of computing capacity over four years.

  • laptop displaying a phishing email icon inside a browser window on the screen

    Phishing Campaign Targets ED Grant Portal

    Threat researchers at cybersecurity company BforeAI have identified a phishing campaign spoofing the U.S. Department of Education's G5 grant management portal.