OpenPath – Improving Student Pathways to Computing Professions via Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software Problem Computer Science Curricula 2013 identifies a complex mix of knowledge and skills that undergraduate computing education must impart to prepare students for professional practice. Students must master fundamental technical topics, professional skills including team work, communication, and problem solving, and develop personal attributes including collegiality, a sense of social responsibility, and appreciation for diversity. Proposed Solution Introducing students to real computing projects is an excellent way to address the professional practice challenge while also providing scale and complexity to engage a wide range of technical skill issues. However, this option is quite challenging for instructors. This project, OpenPath, helps instructors meet this challenge by building on two existing NSF-funded research initiatives: undergraduate participation in Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software (HFOSS), and Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning in Computer Science (CS-POGIL). HFOSS Humanitarian free and open source (HFOSS) projects have a socially beneficial goal such as disaster management, economic development, or health care. Student participation in HFOSS has the potential to immerse students in large-scale, globally distributed projects that will expose students to compelling applications of computing. CS-POGIL POGIL, Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning, has students work in small, self-managed teams using specifically designed materials to construct their own knowledge. Individual students have team roles to help keep all team members engaged. Instructors act as facilitators, observing student teams and providing support where needed. POGIL originated in college chemistry and has since spread across STEM disciplines. POGIL has shown potential to a) improve learning, b) develop teamwork and key process skills, and c) encourage individual responsibility and meta-cognition. CS-POGIL has taken the POGIL concepts and applied them to the CS curriculum. OpenPath Goals Pathways – Define clear learning progressions that enable student participation in HFOSS and that can be integrated with existing computing curricula to provide real world experience. Learning Activities – Develop learning activities that enable student participation in Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software (HFOSS) and that use Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning in Computer Science (CS-POGIL) to improve this learning progression. Community – Expand the communities of computing educators who are enabling student participation in HFOSS and using POGIL as well as the community of computing professionals who interact with students. Gregory W. Hislop Drexel University hislop@drexel.edu Darci Burdge, Lori Postner Nassau Community College darci.burdge, lori.postner@ncc.edu Heidi J.C. Ellis, Stoney Jackson Western New England University ellis, sjackson@wne.edu Clif Kussmaul Muhlenberg College clifkussmaul@gmail.com 1 Contribution General Technical HFOSS S1 S2 … Sn Status OpenPath started in fall 2015. The initial months have been devoted to: Assessing existing learning activities Developing a prototype model for representing learning pathways and getting faculty feedback on the approach Identifying candidate HFOSS contributions and meeting with industry representatives to further define the learning outcomes This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DUE-1525039, DUE-1524898, and DUE-1524877. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).