Just in the last few decades, computer science as a discipline has touched every walk of life and every segment of the population. With desktop applications, the World Wide Web, smartphones, and now, generative Artificial Intelligence, computer science has profoundly impacted societies everywhere. In return, computer science as a discipline stands to benefit from participation and contributions from all people regardless of geography, history, race, religion, and culture.

Given the pervasive influence of computer science, what is especially remarkable is how egalitarian it is compared to most other STEM disciplines—one does not need elaborate laboratories or expensive equipment. So, anyone anywhere can turn inspiration and ideas into useful products and services to benefit everyone.

The power of computer science lies in that it is a study of problem-solving in general that can be applied to any specific field—scientific, social, economic, etc. As such, the ones best qualified to use computing to solve a problem are the ones who are most directly affected by the problem and/or have developed a clear understanding of the problem.

So, computer science has the potential to impact everyone, and anyone can meaningfully use it to solve problems, especially those that directly affect them. Given this, it behooves computer science educators from around the world to collaborate, cooperate and learn from each other's challenges and opportunities. The resulting cross-pollination of ideas and solutions will benefit everyone's work, the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

The first step in this direction is to raise awareness of each other's computing education practices. What are the challenges and opportunities that motivate educators in different parts of the world? What are some strategies and solutions that one can borrow from the best practices of educators in very disparate settings?

This special issue of ACM Inroads is a collection of articles on computer science education practices in various geographic regions of the world, written by educators in the respective regions. The articles were solicited by a task force put together by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), IEEE-Computer Society (IEEE-CS) and the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) to revise computer science curricular guidelines last published in 2013 [1]. These articles complement the updated curricular report, referred to as CS2023 [2].

The articles cover undergraduate (as opposed to graduate or high school) computer science (as opposed to information systems, information technology, etc.) education. The authors were invited to write about the types of educational institutions, governing bodies, degree structure, enrollment trends, challenges, opportunities, and innovations. While the invitation was open to the entire world, the articles in this special issue represent the regions that responded and represent most of the regions in the world.

It is hoped that this special issue sparks conversations toward a more inclusive, collaborative world of undergraduate computer science education, conversations that enrich all the interlocutors. It is also hoped that the special issue leads to a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities confronting computer science education in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world in the 21st century.

Inroads Special Issue Co-Editors

References

1. CS2013, cs2013.org; accessed 2023 Jan 13.

2. CS2023, csed.acm.org; accessed 2023 Jan 13.

Authors

Amruth N. Kumar
Professor of Computer Science
School of Theoretical and Applied Science (TAS)
Ramapo College of New Jersey
[email protected]

Rajendra K. Raj
Professor of Computer Science
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY
[email protected]

Copyright held by authors.

The Digital Library is published by the Association for Computing Machinery. Copyright © 2023 ACM, Inc.

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