Author(s):
The OpenPace project introduces students to Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software (HFOSS) in support of multiple objectives. First, HFOSS provides excellent opportunities for students to develop software engineering technical and professional skills. Second, HFOSS supports student participation in authentic computing environments, which has been shown to increase student motivation. Third, HFOSS is a means of introducing students to Computing for Social Good (CSG) and provides many opportunities to address Society, Ethics, and the Profession (SEP), a Knowledge Area of computing education that has received increased emphasis in the recently released Computer Science Curriculum Recommendation (CS 2023). Finally, HFOSS education demonstrates the positive societal impact of computing, which has been shown to broaden participation in computing by students from underrepresented groups.Given these potential benefits, HFOSS education is attractive to many instructors. But, like many active learning approaches that include authentic, collaborative computing environments, HFOSS requires scaffolding and preparation for student success. This lightning talk discusses approaches instructors can use to provide a progression of learning activities to support HFOSS education. This progression begins with simple explorations of HFOSS that can be included in early computing courses. It extends through activities that help students build skills with tools and processes typical of team-based software engineering. The progression leads to student participation in humanitarian open source projects.
Coauthors
Heidi Ellis, ellis@wne.edu Grant Braught, braught@dickinson.edu
