HFOSS-Lite in CS2
Samuel A. Rebelsky · 2015
Although undergraduate computer science enrollments are again on the upswing, increased enrollments do not seem to have led to increased diversity -- CS, at least in America, remains a field dominated by white males. A variety of evidence shows that many underrepresented groups, such as women and domestic students of color, are often motivated by course work that includes a clear societal benefit. The Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software (HFOSS) approach suggests that working on FOSS projects that have humanitarian benefits provides such motivation. Unfortunately, adding new themes and topics to courses can be difficult. CS2, in particular, often feels packed enough that it's hard to envision adding something else. And, while HFOSS is attractive, it's sometimes hard for the particular needs of a project to help students develop course-specific knowledge (about data structures and algorithms).