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Wednesday July 31 - Friday August 2
2013
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2013 Workshop Schedule | Maps | Things to do in Pittsburgh
| Wednesday, July 31 |
| 8:00-9:00 |
Breakfast, Registration |
| 9:00-9:30 |
Welcome and Survey |
| 9:30-11:00 |
CS Unplugged I, Tom Cortina
Can you teach computer science principles without a computer? Yes, you can if you use the activities from the Computer Science Unplugged book. These hands-on, fun activities are designed to illustrate fundamental principles of data representation, compression, sorting, parallel processing and algorithms for kids and adults. We will show you how easy it is to use some of these activities in your classroom. |
| 11:00-11:30 |
Break |
| 11:30-12:30 |
Keynote: J. Zico Kolter
"Computational Methods for Sustainable Energy"
Sustainable energy presents one of the chief challenges facing society. While this problem has typically been considered from a physical standpoint, the growing role of data and sensing offer opportunities for computational methods to transform how we understand and optimize energy. Prof. Kolter will discuss several ongoing research projects, all addressing ways in which computation can address key challenges in energy systems. In particular, he will look at how machine learning methods can help us better understand our energy bills, how mathematical modelling can help us predict and model renewable energy resources, and how we can optimize wind turbines using intelligent control. More broadly, these examples highlight instances where computation serves as a tool to address critical challenges facing the world.
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| 12:30-1:30 |
Lunch/Discussion |
| 1:30-2:30 |
CS Unplugged II, Tom Cortina
More activities from Computer Science Unplugged, hopefully outside! (weather permitting) |
| 2:30-2:45 |
Travel to Google at Bakery Square |
| 2:45-4:45 |
Tour of Google Pittsburgh & CS Careers Panel
We will get to tour Google's cool new home at Bakery Square in Pittsburgh! Also in this session, a panel of Google engineers will tell you what it's like to work for Google and what preparation students need to study computer science in college and pursue a career in computing. The session will include time for Q&A. |
| 4:45-5:00 |
Travel back to CMU |
| 5:00-6:30 |
Dinner and a Video
While you're eating dinner, we'll watch a video and find out what machine learning is and how the IBM computer named Watson was programmed to play (and win) on the game show Jeopardy!. |
| Thursday, August 1 |
| 8:00-9:00 |
Breakfast |
| 9:00-10:30 |
Teaching Computer Networks in HS, David Nassar
"Teaching Network Infrastructure to High School Students".
In this presentation, one given methodology for teaching network infrastructure to high school students will be presented. The presenter will demonstrate the project-based approach taken with his class and allow the audience to participate in an activity to learn how to create a network program using the Processing language (a variant of Java). |
| 10:30-11:00 |
Break |
| 11:00-12:30 |
Lab Group A: Using the Finch Robot and the Snap Language - Jenn Cross
In this hands-on workshop session you will be introduced to the Finch, a new robot that opens up a number of potentially exciting and motivating assignments. During the session you will be shown how to program the Finch using the Snap language and challenged to both solve existing assignments and brainstorm new ones. The Finch is a product of the CREATE lab at Carnegie Mellon.
Lab Group B: Learning to Program with Google Blockly - Kenny Joseph
Blockly is a web-based, graphical programming environment that allows users to create computer programs without entering textual code in the traditional sense. Users drag blocks together to build some really interesting applications in little time. In the hands-on workshop session, we will introduce Blockly and demonstrate some basic examples to get you started. Then we'll allow you to explore some additional problems to see how you can use this tool in an introductory course in computing at your school. |
| 12:30-1:30 |
Lunch/Discussion |
| 1:30-3:00 |
Lab Group A: Learning to Program with Google Blockly - Kenny Joseph
Blockly is a web-based, graphical programming environment that allows users to create computer programs without entering textual code in the traditional sense. Users drag blocks together to build some really interesting applications in little time. In the hands-on workshop session, we will introduce Blockly and demonstrate some basic examples to get you started. Then we'll allow you to explore some additional problems to see how you can use this tool in an introductory course in computing at your school.
Lab Group B: Using the Finch Robot and the Snap Language - Jenn Cross
In this hands-on workshop session you will be introduced to the Finch, a new robot that opens up a number of potentially exciting and motivating assignments. During the session you will be shown how to program the Finch using the Snap language and challenged to both solve existing assignments and brainstorm new ones. The Finch is a product of the CREATE lab at Carnegie Mellon.
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| 3:00-3:30 |
Break |
| 3:30-5:00 |
Can Computers Solve Everything?, Tom Cortina
It's surprising to learn there are some problems that computers can't solve no matter how powerful they are. Of the problems computers can solve, can they solve them all quickly? How can we tell? In this session, we will examine some interesting computational problems and see why computers will need millions of years to solve them or will not be able to solve them at all. |
| 5:00-6:30 |
Dinner (on your own) |
| Friday, August 2 |
| 8:00-9:00 |
Breakfast/Discussion |
| 9:00-10:00 |
Changing the View of CS in HS: Group Discussion - Tom Cortina, Carol Frieze
Tom & Carol will lead an open town-hall style meeting where we can discuss what issues teachers face when teaching CS in high schools and share strategies on how we can go about making a change for the better. Tom will also present a brief overview of a new Advanced Placement course titled CS Principles that will be launched later this decade to reach a broader group of high school students. |
| 10:00-12:00 |
Workshop Activity
We will break into small groups to come up with answers for some important problems concerning computer science education at the high school level. Groups will present their findings in the afternoon. |
| 12:00-1:15 |
Lunch & A Movie:
"History of Computing"
History in a CS class? Why not! Computers have played a key role in some major historical events, and while we have lunch, we'll watch a program that shows how computers helped save the Census, win a World War, and fly us to the Moon. |
| 1:15-2:30 |
Group Presentations |
| 2:30-3:30 |
Diversity in Computing: CS Roadshows, Carol Frieze and SCS Graduate Students: Jenn Cross, Kenny Joseph and Gabi Marcu
In this session we will focus on one very special outreach strategy: Computer Science Roadshows. Students from the School of Computer Science will demonstrate the Roadshow we have developed for K-12 children and invite YOU to take part! |
| 3:30-4:00 |
Wrapup, Surveys, Prizes |
Previous CS4HS schedules:
CS4HS 2012
CS4HS 2011
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