ACM China SIGCSE Symposium and Council Meeting were Successfully Held at TURC 2023, July 29, 2023, in Wuhan, China

ACM Turing Award Celebration Conference - China (ACM TURC 2023) was successfully held in Wuhan, China, on July 29, 2023. The computer science education symposium hosted by the China Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (ACM SIGCSE China) was held in conjunction with TURC 2023. ACM SIGCSE China was established in 2016 to promote the internationalization of domestic computer education and provide a platform for computer educators to communicate. Since the first Turing Conference, SIGCSE China has continuously held five symposiums. The focus of this year’s symposium is centered around the theme “Competency Model in CS education.” The symposium is featured with 5 invited talks, 1 panel discussion, as well as 4 award speeches, including 2 from the SIGCSE Rising Stars and 2 from the SIGCSE Outstanding Dissertation recipients.

Invited Talks and Panel Session

From 13:30 to 15:30 on July 29, Prof. Joe Turner (ACM Fellow, ABET Fellow, CSAB Fellow，Clemson University), Prof. Nancy Mead (IEEE Life Fellow, SEI Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University), Prof. John Impagliazzo (IEEE Fellow, ACM Distinguished Educator), Prof. Ernesto Cuadros-Vargas (Member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Computer Society), as well as Dr. Jingyuan Chen (Zhejiang University) gave invited talks respectively. The invited presentations were hosted by Professor Yun Feng of Northwest University and Zichen Xu of East China Normal University.

Professor Joe Turner received an Outstanding Contribution to ACM Award, and has served as Vice President of ACM and as Chair of the ACM Education Board. The title of his report was “Thoughts on Pedagogical Advances in Teaching Computer Science”. In his talk, he summarized the evolution of computer science (CS) undergraduate programs: from more theoretical in the 1970s, to more application-oriented but still theoretical, to developing more skills through laboratory courses, and increasing interest in pedagogical improvements in student learning. He reviewed some of the pedagogical practices that have been used to improve student learning in CS programs. He finally concluded with some speculation on the disruptive effect that LLMs may have on CS education.

The second invited talk was given by Professor Nancy Mead, who is Life Fellow of the IEEE and Distinguished Member of the ACM. She presented “Reflections on the Evolution of Software Engineering Education.” She discussed the evolution of software engineering education and software engineering principles, as well as future needs. She also took a closer look at the software engineering degree programs at Carnegie Mellon University.

Following that, Professor John Impagliazzo, IEEE Fellow, IEEE Life Member, ACM Distinguished Educator, and Honorary Professor of Hofstra University, presented “Competency and the Future of Computing”. John focused on the foundations that support competency in computing and engineering. He discussed components and activities that involve skills and dispositions related to the knowledge students acquire. Finally, he pointed out that competence was not just about passing exams; its underlying theme was performance on tasks.

Next, Dr. Jingyuan Chen, ZJU100 Young Professor at Zhejiang University, gave her report about “The Building of AI Program via the Tree of Knowledge.” This talk discussed the practice of building AI program by integrating "textbook, course and platform" via the tree of knowledge. Finally, Professor Ernesto Cuadros-Vargas presented a report “Automatic Generation of a Curriculum Based on ACM/IEEE-CS Computing Curricula 2020.” Ernesto is the professor of Latin American Center for Computing Studies (CLEI), Peru, Member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Computer Society. His talk demonstrated how to automate the entire process of generating a curriculum plan in less than 10 minutes, adhering to international standards.

Finally, Professor Ernesto Cuadros-Vargas presented a report “Automatic Generation of a Curriculum Based on ACM/IEEE-CS Computing Curricula 2020.” Ernesto is the professor of Latin American Center for Computing Studies (CLEI), Peru, Member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Computer Society. His talk demonstrated how to automate the entire process of generating a curriculum plan in less than 10 minutes, adhering to international standards.

In the panel session, the discussion theme was about Competency Model in CS education. The panel was chaired by Professor Zichen Xu of Nanchang University. Four Professors as invited speakers from abroad and Professor Juan Chen of National University of Defense Technology served as panel guests. Special topics, such as how to implement competency models in China, were discussed in depth during this panel session.

Award Speeches Session

On the afternoon of July 29, 4 award speeches were also presented at the SIGCSE Symposium, including 2 from the SIGCSE Rising Stars and 2 from the SIGCSE Outstanding Dissertation recipients. Jie Zhang, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Peking University, gave his report on “Experience Sharing: Research-Oriented Computing Education in Peking University.” Zhirong Shen is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Xiamen University. The title of his report was “Simple Thoughts on the Teaching and Research of Computer System.” Youhui Bai presented “Discussion on the Innovation of Compilation Course Based on Domestic Chips” and Yutong Liu gave a report on “Internet of Things Teaching and Research Practice Exploration -- Taking Wireless Sensing as an Example.”

SIGCSE China Council Meeting

The SIGCSE China Council Meeting was held at 16:40-18:20 on July 29, chaired by Professor Juan Chen, Vice Chairman of SIGCSE China, with a total of 30 executive directors and directors participating. At the meeting, the members of the Bureau and relevant directors introduced the work of this year, and voted to elect 9 new members of the Standing Committee. The new Bureau will be led by Professor Bo Yang from University of Jinan. Professors Ming Zhang and Juan Chen will continue to support the work of SIGCSE China as consultants.

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