Collaborative research: transforming computer science curriculum design at liberal arts institutions

Washington & Jefferson College received a $124,088 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Undergraduate Education under the STEM Education program (CFDA 47.076), awarded October 15, 2025, with completion targeted for September 30, 2028. The award supports a collaborative, Level 1 institutional transformation initiative designed to develop and deploy a structured, facilitated process for computer science (CS) faculty at liberal arts institutions to systematically review and revise undergraduate CS curricula. The project will guide departments through a backward design process grounded in curriculum design literature, wherein institutional mission and programmatic goals drive decisions about program outcomes, curriculum structure, and selection of core and elective content. The deliverables include testing and refining this curriculum revision framework to help CS departments develop adaptive, mission-aligned programs that respond to evolving student needs, emerging technological advances such as generative artificial intelligence and quantum computing, and changing employer requirements.

This initiative directly addresses the significant role that liberal arts and primarily undergraduate institutions play in the nation's computing workforce development, with approximately one-third of CS majors graduating annually from these institution types. The project aims to enhance faculty capacity for curriculum innovation while supporting CS programs that maintain distinctive characteristics of liberal arts education, including broader computing literacy across the student body and flexible pathways for students to enter or add CS majors during their sophomore or junior years.

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by helping computer science (CS) departments develop or update undergraduate CS majors to meet evolving student needs while balancing international guidelines for CS curricula with local needs and priorities. This level 1 institutional and community transformation project includes plans to deploy, test, and revise a structured, facilitated process for faculty at liberal arts institutions to use when reviewing and revising undergraduate CS curricula. Liberal arts institutions play an important role in educating the nation's stem workforce, with roughly a third of CS majors each year graduating from liberal arts and primarily undergraduate institutions. These programs often prioritize opportunities for greater computing literacy across the student body and provide pathways for students to switch into or add CS majors to their degree during their sophomore or junior year, allowing them to recruit students who may not enter college with an intent to study computing. CS curricula require regular revision to respond to new advances in the discipline, such as generative AI and quantum computing, changing needs of employers, and shifts in the interests, preparation, and career goals of students. The project aims to understand how best to develop faculty capacity for curriculum innovation and encourage CS departments to develop adaptive, effective, mission-aligned curricula that contribute significantly to the development of a broadly prepared computing workforce. The project plans to guide departments through a backward design process for curriculum revision in which the distinctive programmatic mission and goals drive the later decision-making about program outcomes, curriculum structure, and selection of core and elective content. This process is grounded in the curriculum design literature and designed to work alongside the latest international curriculum guidelines. The project aims to show that successful adoption of this process will result in liberal arts CS programs that are (1) prepared and inclined to regularly update their curricula to respond to changes in the discipline and their operating context, (2) equipped to do so effectively and efficiently, and (3) able to do so in a manner that results in distinctive, institutionally aligned, and innovative curricula that respond to advances in the discipline and employer needs. Departments will be recruited to participate in facilitated working groups and complete the curriculum review process. Both single-department and cohort-based working group modalities will be tested. The project will study the efficacy of this process through three key measures: curriculum innovation and alignment, faculty engagement and efficacy in curriculum design, and long-term institutional capacity for ongoing program revision. Evaluation strategies include analysis of revised curricula and associated documentation, participant feedback through surveys and focus groups, and longitudinal data on program change. These investigations will advance understanding of the support needed for successful use of the process and prepare for broader deployment and long-term systemic change. The NSF iuse:EDU program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of stem education for all students. Through the institutional and community transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve stem education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.