Undergraduate enrolment in Computer Science has been decreasing recently, not only at the University of Waterloo, but also generally across North America. Working in a group, you will produce a report that includes: some discussion on possible reasons for the decline in interest, the current state of education in computer science within Ontario and some concrete suggestions for how to attract secondary school students to undergraduate studies in computer science.
In order to complete this report each group is asked to locate a current teacher of computer science at the secondary school level and to interview that teacher to find out more about the current courses being offered and that teacher's perspective on the kinds of students who are most interested in computer science, at the moment. Groups will then present an analysis of that information, followed by some brainstorming on possible strategies for increasing interest in computer science amongst secondary school students. Please note: your solution should be more than simply a proposed adjustment to the curriculum (we may not have the power to evoke all the changes that we would like, here). Try to come up with some SPECIFIC plans for making secondary school students more interested in enrolling in computer science at university. This can include either having people from CS departments visiting secondary schools or having people from secondary schools visiting CS departments or having secondary school teachers (and not just CS teachers, but possibly Math or other teachers) making students more aware of CS, in a very compelling way.
The assignment is due on Thursday March 10 at 10am, should be roughly 2500 to 3000 words in length and is worth 10 marks. The groups of 4 will be formed by the instructor and TAs, making an effort to create groups of equitable ability. All team members will receive the same grade (unless it is determined that someone has failed to contribute sufficiently; students will be asked to verify whether all team members participated adequately).
We will have some high school teachers visiting the class on February 11. Please ensure that only one person from each group is designated as the contact person for correspondence with the teachers and please attempt to limit your communication considerably, so as not to overburden our guests.
This assignment will give students the opportunity to do some primary research (interviewing or surveying), in addition to continuing some secondary research (locating material already written by others). The open-ended nature of the assignment will challenge students to come up with creative ideas, but to articulate them in ways that are concise, clear and suitably deep. The topic is fairly broad and open and is, as such, well suited to work by a team of individuals.
[CLOSED] Michelle Vidberg - Galt Collegiate - Cambridge
[CLOSED] Anton Milardovic - St. Benedicts - Cambridge
[CLOSED] Harry Niezen - Forest Heights - Kitchener
[CLOSED] Mike Devoy - Mons. Doyle
[CLOSED] Roy Parteno - Peel Board
Group 1: Sean W, Noel, Logan [Roy]
Group 2: Rachelle, Thai, Zahra, Ian [Roy]
Group 3: Eleanor, Sam L, Sukhwinder, Paul [Michelle]
Group 4: Sean M, Aaron, Sam F, Nicholas [Mike]
Group 5: Jesse, Adam K, Srdjan, Nishant [Harry]
Group 6: Dianne, Caroline, Marina, Fiona [Michelle]
Group 7: Rouzbeh, Catherine, Bobby, Patrick [Mike]
Group 8: Jackson, Garret, Dariusz, Phil [Harry]
Group 9: Graeme, Adam F, Dora, Seyoung [Anton]
Group 10: Dave, Michelle, Brigitte, Peter [Anton]
Group 11: Avi, Chris, Stephen, Jeet [Anton]