I am currently a PhD candidate scheduled to finish my degree in the next few months, and will be starting a job as an assistant professor at an undergraduate-oriented institution this fall. I’m excited to start working with undergraduates both in and outside of class, but haven’t had the opportunity to keep up with what current undergraduate education looks like during my time as a graduate student. Attending SIGCSE was a great chance to hear more about what other institutions are trying in their CS 1 courses, as well as learn about best practices for some of the other challenges facing CS departments these days (e.g., rapidly growing enrollments). Additionally, attending SIGCSE allowed me to meet other faculty at schools nearby where I will be working who also have an interest in advancing CS education. I enjoyed talking with them about some of the challenges particular to our region regarding recruitment and outreach efforts.

While at SIGCSE, I also had the opportunity to present my paper on a social robotics outreach program that leverages the unique capabilities of grandparent-grandchild learning pairs. The conference provided a good venue to share my ideas with others, as well as direct people to resources to help them replicate or adapt our program for their unique needs.