CS Curricular Innovations with a Liberal Arts Philosophy
James D. Teresco, Andrea Tartaro, Amanda M. Holland-Minkley, Grant Braught, Jakob E. Barnard, Douglas Baldwin · Proceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education · 2022
A liberal arts context offers unique opportunities for curricular innovation that can inform the implementation of computing curricula more broadly. The SIGCSE Committee on Computing Education in Liberal Arts Colleges has collected 18 model curricula during affiliated events at SIGCSE symposia over the past two years. Here we conduct a distillation of the curricula and discuss themes across the curricula including: flexible pathways through majors, interdisciplinary initiatives, and preparing students for a range of careers and their first job. Our discussion focuses on how liberal arts colleges are empowered to think creatively about computing curricula and how research intensive universities, community colleges, and K-12 can leverage these approaches for their context.