Creating "Computing, Design, and Pedagogy"
When I arrived at Barnard College with a new-found passion for computer science, I was certain I would major in it. I was wrong.
After Kode With Klossy, I thought the transition into studying computer science would be perfect. Kode With Klossy and Barnard pride themselves on cultivating a similar learning ethos. Predominantly women and nonbinary students, small classes, supportive, encouraging, accessible. The only problem was that the computer science program at Barnard had only been started two years prior and didn’t offer any introductory computer science courses of its own, so prospective majors had to take all their introductory classes at Columbia’s School for Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS).
I began the process and took my first Introduction to Computer Science course at Columbia my freshman fall semester. After a week, I dropped out. The learning environment just did not meet my needs.
Remember, Covid Fall 2020, so it was nearly 400 people on Zoom, with a chat that never stopped messaging. The only people who ever came off mute and spoke in class seemed to have already had access to plenty of computer science education. Yet it was supposed to be an introductory course? I was barely learning anything in class, yet when it came time to do the homework, I had no idea what to do. I asked myself: is it worth my mental health suffering to put in all the effort that would be necessary to do well, or should I drop out and try again later? I went with the latter option. I eventually took the class the following semester—this time with only 200 people on Zoom and a disabled chat—and did well. It still took a lot of effort. I wished the class could have been at Barnard in a learning environment more similar to that of Kode With Klossy.
Sophomore year rolled around. I enrolled in the second computer science course in the major sequence: Data Structures. I also knew the whole time I never wanted to major in computer science alone. So I tried a lot of different disciplines—women’s gender and sexuality studies, economics, then finally, education. That was the one. My Educational Foundations class quickly became my favorite. I connected my passion for STEM with our curriculum. For a group project, we created a collaborative study called Math Education Sucks! based on the K-12 math experiences of students in our class. I also wrote an op-ed on how math education in the U.S. needs to be more like that of Estonia and the Netherlands, the two top performing Western countries in the math section on the International PISA test.
Now, a year later, I was facing a similar dilemma in my Data Structures class. I really wanted to learn computer science, but the 200 person lecture hall (we were finally in person now) made me feel so small. I had questions, but I felt too embarrassed to raise my hand. It felt like everyone knew what was going on and that I was on a different page. I hated how being in the lecture made me feel.
Then I had a conversation with my supervisor of my STEAM Student Educational Experience Designer position in Barnard’s Office of Community Engagement STEAM in the City program. She brought up the idea of creating my own major. A light bulb went on. I had never considered this possibility, but it made so much sense. I dropped out of Data Structures, and began a multiple-months long journey of creating my own major.
I wanted to study computer science, but I wanted to do it on my own terms. I didn’t want to be forced to take the intended major sequence and be in huge Columbia engineering lecture halls. I wanted to take education courses, and I also wanted to take design-thinking courses. I wanted to pursue an interdisciplinary path. My major was more than just education and computer science. I wanted to use computer science education classes as a lens into the larger inequities in education. Who has access to computer science learning spaces? Who are those spaces designed for? Who is being left behind and who is being propelled into positions of power? How can we re-imagine education by re-imagining the computer science classroom? How can we design the ideal (computer science) learning environment?
I talked to a lot of people—essentially every professor and staff member at Barnard and Columbia who I thought could help me craft my vision. I worked closely with the chair of Barnard’s education program, Dr. Maria Maulucci Rivera, to create a senior thesis project synthesizing my major into a final new collegiate course offered through the Education program: CS in the City. After two months of preparation, a 13-page petition for a special major in Computing, Design, and Pedagogy was born and submitted to Barnard’s Committee on Programs and Academic Standing (CPAS). I received an email back a few months later granting major approval. The committee didn’t even have any edits. It was a huge win.
Click here to read the proposal.
A few months after my major was approved, I was asked to speak at the Barnard Year of Science Gala and share my story pursuing STEM—on my own interdisciplinary terms—at Barnard. Coincidentally, the Gala took place at the American Museum of Natural History, the same place where I first discovered my interest in astrophysics. I was the youngest selected speaker at the Gala. It raised 2.6 million dollars for Barnard financial aid.
Creating my own major speaks to both the type of student and educator I am. I believe in education that is student-centered and expansive. When students have a big, bold idea, I encourage them in bringing their visions to life. The greatest ideas are often ones that go beyond the curriculum and beyond the status quo. That is where the magic happens. Creating my own major helped me practice advocating for myself, staying true to what I believe in, honoring my agency, thinking critically about the kind of education I desire, and bringing my dreams to life. I will always support the students who want to craft their own Computing, Design, and Pedagogies.