SPLASH-E

SPLASH-E is a forum, started in 2013, for software and languages (SE/PL) researchers with activities and interests around computing education. Some build pedagogically-oriented languages or tools; some think about pedagogic challenges around SE/PL courses; some bring computing to non-CS communities; some pursue human studies and educational research. At SPLASH-E, we share our educational ideas and challenges centered in software/languages, as well as our best ideas for advancing such work. Unlike general conferences on computing education, SPLASH-E strives to bring together researchers and those with educational interests that arise from software ideas or concerns. Check out the program to see the excellent lineup of talks!

The recordings are available on youtube.

Keynote

Presentations

Call for contributions

Symposium Format: We will adopt a Q&A format that fosters audience engagement and discussion. After each presentation, the audience will discuss the paper with those sitting around them for 2-3 minutes, identifying interesting issues or questions. The Q&A then moves to the standard full-room format, with many questions arising from the discussion at the tables. This format has been used very successfully at ICER (the Computing Education Research conference).

Topics of interest: We invite contributions to think broadly on how computing education connects to the curricula that students experience. A focus on courses in introductory CS, software engineering, programming languages, and/or compilers is expected, but not required. Some examples of topics include:

• What connections can be made between introductory programming courses and courses in other areas (science, math, social studies, etc)?
• How can or should we adapt introductory courses to address diverse incoming student interests and experience levels (“typical” CS majors, data scientists, interested bystanders; high school-, undergrad- or masters-level students)?
• What can we do beyond the first introductory course, to create a multi-course curriculum incorporating computing education?

Formats of interest: We invite submissions in one of three formats:

• 500-word max lightning talk proposals on projects in progress, zany ideas, or educational opportunities that SE/PL researchers might be missing. These can be a way to find collaborators for projects, inviting critique on research designs, or just ways to inspire good conversations. Lightning talk presentations would be 3 minutes apiece.

• Short papers (3-5 pages): Course experience reports: What was new, or different? What worked, or didn’t? What successes would you like to share, or pitfalls can you warn us about?

• Full papers (10 pages): Conventional papers on education research results or tools. We also invite papers on retrospective discussions over a longer-term course experiment, or larger-scale curricular design.

Submission instructions: Potential presenters are invited to submit an extended abstract (2-6 pages) or a draft paper (up to 10 pages) in SIGPLAN style. Clarification: Initial submissions should be doubled-blinded; full submissions after the workshop will (obviously) be single-blind reviewed. The authors of accepted presentations will have their preprints and their slides made available on the workshop’s website. After the workshop, presenters will be invited to submit (a revised version of) their article for review. The PC will select the best articles for publication in ACM Digital Library. Articles rejected for presentation and extended abstracts will not be formally reviewed by the PC.