Interdisciplinary computing education for the challenges of the future

Abstract

This session will be conducted by panelists who have carried out funded interdisciplinary research and education, and who have funded and managed interdisciplinary programs. They will provide an opportunity for computing educators to engage in a conversation to assess what is needed to better educate the next generation of students to participate and contribute actively in resolving emerging and future interdisciplinary challenges. Many of the computing education discussions have recently been around "computational thinking" and how this might prepare students in all disciplines, including computing, to formulate and solve problems with other disciplinary partners. The difficult question is how to prepare students to engage in these activities without eroding the depth that is also needed to tackle the deepest and most difficult problems.