Welcome to the September edition of Inroads, in which we focus on new curriculum and information about the CS2023 with a view to the future of computing and computing education. In this issue, Mikey Goldweber provides a guide on how to read the CS2023 report, recognizing that it's 458 pages and some sections will be of more interest than others for each reader. Inroads is happy to have been involved in publicizing CS2023 right from the beginning, providing a summary in last December's issue, and in our Special Issue in March publishing several articles from many countries around the world that contributed to a globalized understanding of computer science education.

In his column about Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE), Jeff Popyack talks about the rising tide of Honors students. With the UPE mission being the "recognition and promotion of high scholarship and original investigations in the several branches of the Computing and Information Disciplines," he notes that the levels of activities are returning to the high pre-pandemic levels. This is a good sign, as UPE supports and promotes students demonstrating excellence in computer science, and embodying core values of Equity, Service, and Excellence. The Honors awards are all listed in his contribution, as well as information about the Executive Council and Chapter awards.

In this instalment of their series of interviews with prominent propagators, David Bunde, Zack Butler, Christopher Hovey, Cynthia Taylor have many interesting questions for Ann Gates Senior Advisor to the Provost for Strategic STEM Initiatives at the University of Texas at El Paso. Prominent propagators are members of the CS education community who have successfully spread pedagogical or curricular innovations. While it is one thing to be an excellent educator it is another to encourage and support many others to follow suit. Ann Quiroz Gates, is a founding member of the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) and a co-founder of the Computing Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institutions (CAHSI): a national Alliance of institutions committed to recruiting, retaining, and accelerating the progress of Hispanics in computing. Both organizations are thriving and prospering. The stated goal of the column is to capture knowledge and experiences that others can use to propagate their own teaching projects. Gates, as a propagator is an example of taking this to the next level through the forming of organizations and making recommendations to the US House of Representatives on STEM education policy, and presentations to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Tony Clear asks the question of how software developers can be encouraged to care and build collective empathy. He presents five research questions, the responses to which give realistic insights into how empathy may be experienced and perceived. There is increasing interest and awareness of the concept and role of collective empathy in software teams, as evidenced through job advertisements and the literature. We really recommend reading this column to get a heads-up with important definitions and literature to take on this research as well as help build a more empathetic environment for software teams.

How good is your knowledge of acronyms? These seem to be beloved by computing folk, so in this issue Scott Weiss's latest puzzle will test how well you know your acronyms. GIAT! (that is, Give It A Try).

In the Classroom Vignettes column, Henry Walker gives an interesting, personal and entertaining account of hearing experiences in the classroom. However, his lessons learned are serious, and have implications for all of us. His case study highlights important issues for the development, documentation, and use of digital hearing aids in classroom teaching. His work provides a framework for examination and discussion of numerous opportunities, limitations, and consequences related to technology.

David S. Touretzky, Angela Chen, and Neel Pawar write about what students in middle school can learn about neural networks. The learning they present moves through six stages taking K-12 students through age-appropriate models of neural networks. They discuss their examples developed for students, and present an interactive tool, Neuron Sandbox, that facilitates their learning and enables the gathering of data for understanding what students need to enable further refining of the design of Neuron Sandbox and determine what additional types of support the software and teachers might provide to students.

The problem of standardizing computing content in secondary education is an issue in many parts of the world. In her article, Susan Sentance talks us through the process of setting up a national virtual center for supporting schools and teachers in England (which of course is one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom). This National Centre for Computing Education may thus be a useful model for similar activities in other parts of the world.

Frank Vahid presents the opportunities, challenges and pitfalls of using generative AI. These ideas arose from discussions held among 15 CS educators and practitioners during NSF workshop meetings. This article provides some excellent examples of the helpful roles AI can play in learning and teaching. Despite the many challenges and pitfalls also identified and discussed, the overall conclusion is a net positive result, with many interesting suggestions and recommendations for us all to consider.

There is growing interest in interdisciplinary undergraduate computing curricula across many institutions of higher education and universities. Our own university offers four courses shared across the four large schools which comprise the STEM College. Carla Brodley, Valerie Barr, Elsa Gunter, Mark Guzdial, Ran Libeskind-Hadas and Bill Manaris explain how CS+X programs provide students with complementary skills that allow them to engage with some of the most important problems to society and also be highly desirable to employers. In their article, they survey the range of types of CS+X programs, identifying opportunities and challenges, and give recommendations for engaging with the delivering and developing of such programs to help nurture a diverse and capable workforce and for creating a more just and sustainable technological society.

We believe this bumper issue has many articles to attract and hold your attention, and support you in delivering your courses over the next semester. We thank our columnists, Backpage puzzler, regular contributors and authors for their intensity and diversity of contributions.

Margaret Hamilton and James Harland

Editors-in-Chief

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