Diversifying CS with a Biology-themed Introductory CS Course at a Large, Diverse Public University

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This project will create an introductory Computer Science course with a Biology theme, by adapting and modifying an existing course developed at a small private college, for use at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The goal of the project is to attract more women to computer science and enable biology students to use the power of computing and computational thinking. Implementing this course at a large scale, in a different academic setting, will result in a version of the course that will be more widely adoptable. A robust dissemination plan will raise awareness of the work, and will result in broader adoption of the course at a national level.The research component of this project will make significant contributions to the knowledge base about what attracts women and under-represented groups to computing and whether or not the results that were obtained when this course was taught in a small college setting can be replicated at a large public institution. The project will measure student attitudes and capabilities in computing using a variety of methods including the Computer Science Attitudes Survey. The result will be a measure of student confidence learning computer science, their attitude toward success in computer science, their view of computer science as a male domain, their view of the usefulness of computer science, and their motivation in computer science