computer science
A paper posted online this month has settled a nearly 30-year-old conjecture about the structure of the fundamental building blocks of computer circuits. This “sensitivity” conjecture has stumped many of the most prominent computer scientists over the years, yet the new proof is so simple that one researcher summed it up in a single tweet.
Since January 2019, 33 states have passed legislation and funded $42.5 million to expand access to and diversity in K-12 computer science, according to the Code.org Advocacy Coalition, a group of more than 70 industry, non-profit, and advocacy organizations working together to make computer science a fundamental part of K-12 education.
In 1965, the Library of Congress got its first computer--so big that it had to be delivered one piece at a time. Back then, it most likely would have been women helping input data into a machine-readable format. That’s because, in the ’60s and ’70s, many believed that women were on track to outnumber men in tech. In fact, the number of women studying data processing was growing faster than the number of men.
Today it’s mostly a man’s world in computer science -- and a tally of the authors behind nearly 3 million research papers in the field suggests that could be the case for the rest of the 21st century. The findings, reported by researchers at Seattle’s Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, point to how far the scientific community still has to go when it comes to gender equality in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM.
TEALS is one of Microsoft’s answers to a serious shortage of computer science professionals in the U.S. By 2020, the nation will only have about a third as many computer science grads as it needs, according to projections. There are more than 6,500 open computing-related jobs in Wisconsin alone, according to Code.org, which advocates for more computer science training.
One-half of 1 percent. That’s how many Georgia students complete a computer science course as part of their high school curriculum. In an economy where every business is becoming a technology company - whether it’s a worldwide airline utilizing advanced logistics or a bicycle repair shop analyzing social media trends - it’s abundantly clear that we need to increase our focus on technological learning.
Pondering how we can ensure young people are better prepared for the future of work, it is great to step outside your comfort area for ideas and solutions. I recently came across a report from the Royal Academy of Engineering. Although written more than two years ago, their UK STEM Landscape research has several striking findings. One of which is fewer than half of UK domiciled engineering students enter professional engineering occupations.
Undergraduate computer science programs at universities and colleges in the United States appear to produce more skilled students on average than equivalent programs in China, India, and Russia, according to new research.
Looking for innovative ways to bring computational thinking and computer science skills to your STEM classes? MINECRAFT: EDUCATION EDITION might be just the teaching tool for you, whether you’re an experienced player or are just learning about Minecraft.
Virtual and augmented reality in the classroom has proved to be effective for history and chemistry lessons. However, a new use for these tools is now emerging: teaching computer science. Currently, one of the few setbacks to integrating virtual reality is a lack of readily available content. While this may seem like a negative, it opens a new door for teachers to encourage students to explore the world of coding and create their own virtual reality worlds.