GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHERS' EVENT AT HCC'03:
PROGRAMMING FOR THE EDUCATIONALLY DISADVANTAGED

HCC '03 has applied for travel grants for graduate student researchers, as well as for a few other participants, who are working on research relevant to the research theme below. The travel grants are expected to cover all travel to the IEEE Symposia on Human-Centric Computing Languges and Environments, to be held in Auckland, New Zealand, October 2003.

The final decision on whether this travel funding will be granted is expected imminently.

Research Theme

Can programming power be made viable for educationally disadvantaged people?

There are many schools, particularly in minority and rural areas, that struggle to provide even the basics of education, let alone technological experiences. This problem can exist in particular schools, or for particular populations at schools that serve some populations better than others. Educational disadvantage can be influenced by ethnicity, geographic factors, economic status, and societal mores.

With little experience or confidence in their ability to deal with technology, educationally disadvantaged people face serious obstacles against coping with software designed by and for "information haves". To be able to realize their own potential, members of this population need information power. Whether and how software with the power of programmability can be viable for this population is the subject of this event.

Who Can Participate

There are three types of participation:

Graduate student participation: Graduate student researchers may apply to present their work to a panel of experts and to interested conference attendees. The goal is to exchange ideas, generate new ones, and receive constructive feedback. 2-page research abstracts of those selected will also be included in the conference proceedings. Graduate students must apply (see below). Both U.S. students and non-U.S. students may apply; however, because the funding is from a U.S. source, only the U.S. students can receive the travel support.
Outside expert participation: A few "outside expert" U.S. participants not traditionally present at this conference may also be eligible for travel support. They will assist the panel of experts in providing constructive feedback and insights. These participants should be specialists in areas relevant to the research question, such as specialists in education or sociological aspects of computing or ethnic studies. The 2-page research abstracts of those selected will also be included in the conference proceedings. The application process is specified below.
Other conference attendees: All HCC'03 conference attendees are invited to attend the event to listen to the presentations, interact with the participants, and add to the feedback available to the presenters. No sign-up process or registration fee is involved. The event will be one of the tracks during the main conference days.

Event Format

The event will be a half- to full-day special event that will be a parallel track of the main conference. It will consist of brief presentations by the students of their research, followed by a positive critique from our panel of experts.

Application Process

Applications will be due May 15. Acceptance decisions will be communicated by June 20. Camera-ready copies will be due on July 15.

Prepare a 2-page research abstract as follows:

Research abstracts must be in the IEEE two-column conference format. Papers that exceed 2 pages will not be considered.
Research abstracts should be submitted electronically as Portable Document Format (PDF) files. To produce PDF files, you are encouraged to use the freely available, multi-platform GhostScript package. If authors are unable to meet the PDF requirement, please contact the event organizer.

To apply, send an e-mail to the event organizer by the deadline, with the following contents: (1) a statement of whether you are applying as a student participant or as an outside expert, (2) your research abstract, (3) a CV, and (4) statement of up to 30 words of the research's contribution to the event's research theme. In addition, if you are a student applicant, (5) your thesis advisor should separately email a letter of recommendation.

Subtopics

Sample topics for this research theme include (but are not limited to):

Language/environment design research: programming language/environments for particular educationally disadvantaged populations
Implementation research: strategies for accommodating particular language/environment characteristics needed for particular educationally disadvantaged populations
Empirical research: empirical studies of education, gender, age, ethnic, cultural, geographic, or other relevant factors in skills and practices relevant to software development tasks
Sociological aspects of particular educationally disadvantaged populations that impact their ability to succeed at software development tasks
Reliability: reliability mechanisms for bringing checks and balances to environments for educationally disadvantaged populations
Educational theory: educational principles that can be embedded in language/environments to help educationally disadvantaged populations build skills that enhance their information seeking power

Organizers and Panel

The organizer of this event is Margaret Burnett. She and three other committee members (to be named soon) will make the selections and serve on the panel of experts.

Date of last update: Feb. 18, 2003.