In 2009, after significant advocacy work on the part of CSTA and ACM, the United States Congress passed a resolution (H. RES. 558) sponsored by Congressmen Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) and Jared Polis (D-CO), designating the first week of December as “National Computer Science Education Week.” Citing the influence of computing technology as a significant contributor to the U.S. economy and the importance of computer science learning at all educational levels, the resolution called for educators and policymakers to improve computer science education.
Every year, since the passage of H. RES 558, computer science educators have used Computer Science Education Week (www.csedweek.org) as an opportunity to advocate for the development of “sustainable learning experiences in computer science at all educational levels and encourage students to be exposed to computer science concepts”. This year’s celebration, which commenced on Monday, December 9, has seen a dramatic increase in the participation rate, due to the joint efforts of CSTA, ACM and Code.org. The clarion call for 2013 included a new effort, Hour of Code, which, as of Friday, December 13, had seen over 13,473,058 participants writing almost 428,5790,679 lines of code!
While that huge number is an amazing accomplishment, I would like to take the opportunity to also reflect on another important observation for Computer Science Education week, and that is to applaud the efforts of one of America’s first female computer scientists, Grace Murray Hopper.
It is no coincidence that this yearly celebration occurs around her birthday (December 9, 1908). Grace Hopper earned a PhD in mathematics at Yale in 1934, at a time when women simply didn’t do such things. She left the faculty of Vassar in 1943, at the age of 37, to join the WAVES, the women’s Navy auxiliary. A pioneer in the field, Admiral Hopper went on to work on the team that developed the world’s first modern computer, the Harvard Mark I, and pioneered dozens of innovations in computer science over a long career. She conceptualized the idea of machine-independent programming languages, which led to the development of COBOL, one of the first modern programming languages. She is also credited with popularizing the term “debugging” for fixing computer glitches (inspired by an actual moth removed from the computer). She retired twice, in 1966 and 1971, but was persuaded to come back to active duty within a few months both times. She ultimately retired for good in 1986 as a rear admiral. Owing to the breadth of her accomplishments and her naval rank, she is sometimes referred to as “Amazing Grace”.
Such stories motivate me to share the human side of computing with my students. So, while celebrating computer science education week, in addition to participating in a variety of Hour of Code activities, I also showed my 6th graders Grace Hopper’s celebrated interview on the David Letterman show which aired shortly after her retirement in 1986.
Computer Science has a rich history. Technology has changed tremendously over the past 70 years, and many of my students are completely ignorant of its roots. What better time, than Computer Science Education Week to remind them of how computer science started and how far it has come. I am eager to teach my students how to program, but more importantly, I am determined to teach them how to think. I believe that the teaching of computer science should not take place in a vacuum, and students will benefit the most when they make real-world connections to the topic.
So far, my students’ experiences with Computer Science Education Week and the Hour of Code has been very positive. Hopefully, enthusiasm for the topic will continue and many more meaningful learning opportunities will present themselves. I will continue to teach my students how to program, but, more importantly I will teach them computer science. In the words of “Amazing” Grace, “programming is more than an important practical art. It is also a gigantic undertaking in the foundations of knowledge.”
Additional Links:
Anita Borg Institute, Famous Women in Computer Science: http://anitaborg.org/news/profiles-of-technical-women/famous-women-in-computer-science/

Patrice Gans
CSTA K-8 Representative