Teaching Programming to Non-Programmers: Edinburgh Winter School 2024

11 January 2024

G 07, 40 George Square

Are you an educator striving to make programming accessible across disciplines? Join us on January 11th, 2024, from 10:00 to 16:00, for an enriching experience at the University of Edinburgh. This is a hybrid event, offering both in-person and live-streamed options!

Discover innovative techniques for teaching programming in diverse fields such as psychology, medicine, mathematics, and engineering. Dive into industry-tested approaches like rubber-duck debugging and pair programming, exploring their effectiveness in educational settings. Delve into discussions on large class and online environment strategies, ensuring your programming courses are both efficient and inclusive.

Don't miss the chance to share your insights! The event invites lightning talks, allowing participants to showcase practices and experiences in a quick, dynamic format. Network with like-minded professionals, exchange knowledge, and gain strategic and technical insights that can revolutionize your teaching methods.

Applications close Monday 11 December

Updates and Info Get in Touch

This event provides opportunities to:

Discuss techniques for teaching programming to learners in various disciplines where coding is not a core learning skill (including psychology, medicine, mathematics, engineering, etc.)
Learn about how industry approaches such as rubber-duck debugging, or pair programming can be used in teaching
Discuss how programming can be taught effectively and efficiently in large classes and/or online environments
Discuss how to teach programming inclusively
Share practices and insights in a 5-minute lightning talk
Network, share knowledge, share strategic and technical insights
and much more.

Who should attend this event?

Educators involved in teaching programming in any university department
Teaching assistants and tutors who run practical programming labs
Instructors involved in teaching the Carpentries curriculum or similar programmes
Research Software Engineers who run training events

NOTE: The event is meant primarily for people who are already actively teaching programming in some capacity. If you are not teaching now, but planning to do so in the future, please make this clear in the application, and you may be invited to join the waiting list if we are oversubscribed.

Schedule

09:30-10:00	Arrival and Refreshments
10:00-10:10	Welcome
10:10-10:40	Pair Programming Demonstration
10:40-12:10	Pair Programming Talks
12:15-13:00	Lunch
13:00-13:40	Teaching Case Studies
13:45-14:25	Inclusivity in Programming
14:30-15:10	Panel Q&A Session
15:15-16:00	Lightning Talks
16:00-18:00	Drinks Reception

We will notify everyone about their application status by Thursday 14th December.

In the event of the winter school being oversubscribed, we'll prioritise early-career academics and those who are currently teaching programming.

Anyone who is not able to join in person will be invited to watch the live-streamed version of the event.

Keynote Speakers

Dr Olivia Guest

Assistant Professor in Computational Cognitive Science at the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour and the School of Artificial Intelligence, at Radboud University, Netherlands

Dr Samuel Forbes

Developmental psychologist and Assistant Professor at Durham University

The University of Edinburgh logo and the Data-Driven Innovation logo

Apply Now!