C&CS with Carmen Cole and Joslenne Peña, Code For Her: Reimagining Computing Education for Academic Library Outreach on Dec 5, 2018

November 26, 2018

by Erin B.

Join the Connect and Communicate series on

December 5, 10 am EST

for

Code for Her: Reimagining Computing Education for Academic Library Outreach

Presented by Carmen Cole and Joslenne Peña

Currently, there are few opportunities for Penn State affiliates to learn computer programming skills in a non-credit bearing, cost-free learning environment purposefully targeted towards underrepresented populations in tech. In spring 2018, the Penn State University Libraries piloted Code for Her, a beginner coding workshop series targeted to female and gender-diverse individuals. Through hands-on learning, Code for Her workshop participants gain the confidence to pursue future self-education with a foundational knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in a supportive, empowering environment.

Attendees will learn about the highly successful pedagogical method of “code dissection” utilized for Code for Her and the resulting learning gains achieved, as well as the additional active learning methodologies employed by the instructors. Presenters will also introduce qualitative research findings and reflections from workshop participants on the Code for Her learning environment and their attitudes towards programming.

Carmen Cole is the Sally W. Kalin Librarian for Learning Innovations and Information Sciences & Business Liaison Librarian for the Penn State University Libraries. She holds a MSLS from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from Bowling Green State University. Carmen has presented at PaLA, ALA Midwinter and Annual conferences, IFLA, and Women Advance I.T. She is the founder of Code for Her.

Joslenne Peña earned her MS in Information Sciences and Technology in 2015, and is a PhD candidate in Informatics at Penn State. She recently completed a one-year internship as a Research Associate in Human-Centered Systems at Honeywell Aerospace. Joslenne has presented at the iConference (2018 and 2016), ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, ACM Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing, Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, and EDULEARN. She is the Coding Workshop Consultant for Code for Her, and has previously taught coding for iD Tech and the iTech Academy.