[plt-scheme] OT: Women in computing

No, but the study is in progress.  Its findings will be available when
the grant period is over (either this or next year).

Shriram

Gordon Weakliem wrote:

>   For list-related administrative tasks:
>   http://list.cs.brown.edu/mailman/listinfo/plt-scheme
> 
> This is pretty tangential to PLT Scheme, but since this list is frequented by lots of HtDP authors and users, I though I'd try.  Jon Udell[1] has an article up on InfoWorld touching on the subject of women in computing, and reading it, I recalled a paper[2] by the HtDP authors that contained the following quote: 
>   
> "...the htdp curriculum has had an interesting measurable effect concerning female students. Several instructors reported that female students like the HtDP curriculum exceptionally well. In a controlled experiment, an htdp-trained instructor taught a conventional AP curriculum and the Scheme curriculum to the same three classes of students. Together the three classes consisted of over 70 students. While all students preferred our approach to programming, the preference among females was a stunning factor of four. An independent evaluator is now investigating this aspect of the project in more depth." 
>   
> Was this independent evaluation ever completed?  I'm (casually) curious as to what the findings were. 
>   
> [1] http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2004/02/17.html#a918 
> [2] http://www.ccs.neu.edu/scheme/pubs/fffk-jfp.ps