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Goals, Innovations, Results

This page describes our departmental goals, innovations, and results.

Department Goals

Our departmental goals are:

  • Goal 1: All HMC students should receive an introduction to the field of computer science in the core curriculum that exposes them to the intellectual depth and breadth of computer science and provides some experience with programming and problem solving.
  • Goal 2: Our majors should have a strong background in the field of computer science blending experimentation, theory, and design, and should be able to integrate their broad background derived from the HMC Core Curriculum.
  • Goal 3: Our majors should possess strong oral and written communication skills, leadership skills, and an understanding of the impact of their work on society.
  • Goal 4: Our majors should have opportunities to engage in significant projects and research.
  • Goal 5: Our majors should be prepared for opportunities including immediate employment and graduate school.
  • Goal 6: Our faculty members should be effective teachers and mentors.
  • Goal 7: Our faculty members should be productive scholars who make an impact on our disciplines and involve students in our research.
  • Goal 8: Our faculty members should be active in service to the college and our local or professional communities.
  • Goal 9: The department should promote an environment that is welcoming and supportive to all students.
  • Goal 10: The department should have a reputation for excellence within and beyond the college.
  • Goal 11: The department should cultivate good relationships with the other academic departments at HMC and with our computer science colleagues at the other Claremont Colleges.

Innovations

Attaining these goals requires continual innovation in our curricular and co-curricular programs. A significant effort has been made in recent years to develop new introductory courses. These courses are available for others to adopt or adapt to their needs.

  • Introductory Computer Science (aka “CS For Scientists”). With support from the National Science Foundation, we have developed a new introductory course that provides students with both practical programming skills and a broad introduction to some of the intellectual and societal contributions of computer science. Course materials and publications related to this course are available here.
  • Integrated Introduction to Computer Science and Biology (aka “CS 5 Green”). With support from HHMI and NSF, we have developed a version of our introductory computer science course in which the motivation and applications are derived from compelling problems in biology. The materials for the most recent offering of this course are available here.

The department has also made a special effort to provide a positive and stimulating exposure to computing to women and students from traditionally underrepresented groups. In addition to changes to our introductory course, we have sent a large contingent to students to the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference, and have sought additional funds to engage women in research after their first year at Harvey Mudd. A paper summarizing some of the practices intended to encourage women in computing can be found in the paper Women in CS: An Evaluation of Three Promising Practices. Christine Alvarado and Zachary Dodds.  In Proceedings of SIGCSE 2010. March 10–13, 2010, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Results

  • In the classes of 2012-2013, 35% of HMC CS majors and 30% of the CS/Math joint majors are women. Nationally, approximately 11% of CS majors are women.
  • Our introductory course has been adopted/adapted by Northwestern University and Bucknell University.