Dr. Kate Kharitonova received a three-year grant to form a Networked Improvement Community (NIC) to design, deploy and evaluate a computing curriculum designed for non-computer science majors across a diverse range of academic partnership institutions. The grant is organized as a partnership of four institutions: California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly); University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB); University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS); and College of Charleston. The project is structured around two goals: (a) increasing exposure to computing and computational thinking among all students, and better preparing these students for professional careers in fields requiring a certain level of computing, and (b) diversifying the population of students enrolled in computer science courses. The project reframes computer science around human-centric learning goals in fifteen modules that will be implemented across the collaborating institutions. The project is grounded in the complementary and unique academic histories of the partnering organizations. The project addresses the need to develop a strong, diverse, national computing-literate workforce.

For more information on the award, visit the National Science Foundation's Award Search.