Earlier this month, IFIP Technical Committee 3 (Education) and the BCS Academy Board of Computing joined forces to host a workshop exploring ways to support academics new to Computer Science (CS) education institutions.  

The objective of the March 3 workshop was to share challenges, reflect on the projects and activities that are underway, and to explore ways in which BCS and IFIP can work together to create a community of practice and support for new CS academics. The workshop was attended by colleagues from the UK, Europe and South-East Asia. 

The main theme that came out of the workshop was a willingness to collaborate to determine how best to support new CS academics and how the programme of support would fit the needs of an international audience. The group explored a series of opportunities including: a CPD programme, shared resources, mentoring, collaboration, pedagogic research in CS and the creation of an international community of practice.

The workshop includes a range of short presentations, designed to stimulate discussion and debate. These included:

  • IFIP Opportunities and Challenges in University Teaching from an IFIP TC3 Perspective
  • An Overview of BCS Work for New CS academics
  • The BCS Academic Package 
  • Early Careers Networks for Computer Science Academics: Experiences from the Point of View of an Early Careerist 
  • Challenges in developing a Data Science Curriculum from an International Perspective

The workshop concluded with an InVision post-it note and discussion session.

The workshop was greatly welcomed by those attending, and will be run again for a wider audience in May/June this year. Organisers are also exploring further collaboration across international computer societies and associations, with possible involvement of UNESCO.

The provisional date for the next collaborative workshop is Wednesday 25th May 2022 at 0900 GMT.