Perspectives on history in computing and education

Can history inspire and motivate students in computing programs? Can it help attract or retain students? History has always been part of academic learning. There are many examples of history-oriented courses in areas such as music, art, and mathematics. However, courses that focus on the history of computing are fairly rare and computing curricula recommendations of the past have often lacked this essential component of computing education. Indeed, computing courses often neglect the role of historical issues in their content. This is unfortunate, because there is much to learn from computing history. It broadens one’s perspective on the field and helps students explore the inner thinking of key historical figures and the events these individuals produced. History also enables students to learn from past events and discuss “lessons learned” in their program of study. In this panel, the presenters will argue for several approaches to using history as an interesting and valuable addition to the teaching repertoire for computing educators at both the precollege and college levels. The panelists will explore the importance of history in the computing curriculum and how to apply this theme in computing programs as a tool for learning. The panelists encourage computing educators to discover ways in which history can make the study of computing topics exciting. We hope, thanks in part to this panel presentation, that educators will gain insights regarding tools they can call upon to help them include the study of history in their computing courses.