Tools

• CT@VT Course - Computational Thinking course themed around Data Science aimed for non-computing majors
• CORGIS - Collection of Real-World, Great, Interesting, dataSets
• BlockPy - Dual block/text web-based programming environment for Python with automatic feedback
• Pedal - A powerful architecture and toolkit for creating automatic feedback
• PythonSneks - An open-source, instructionally-design Python curriculum for CS1

Resources

• SIGCSE’18 Instructional Design+Knowledge Components Slides, by Luke Gusukuma.
• Knowledge Components for the Computational Thinking Course.
• Interview Protocol for the Computational Thinking Course.
• Introduction to Programming in Python Youtube Series.
• Visualizations related to iteration

More About CORGIS

The CORGIS project aims to transform early computer science projects by introducing real-world data via simple-to-use client libraries. Data Science offers an authentic context for your students to solve real-world problems with programming. The CORGIS project has over 40 libraries for subjects such as politics, education, literature, construction, and more!

CORGIS offers full support for Java, Python, and Racket, in addition to making its data files available in common data formats like JSON and CSV. Some datasets are also available through our unique Visualizer platform, which enables data science exploration directly within the browser!

Publications related to CORGIS:

• A. C. Bart, R. Whitcomb, E. Tilevich, C. A. Shaffer, D. Kafura, Computing with CORGIS: Diverse, Real-world Datasets for. Introductory Computing (Best Research Paper), SIGCSE ‘17, Seattle, Washington. March, 2017.
• E. Tilevich, C. A. Shaffer, A. C. Bart. Creating Stimulating, Relevant, and Manageable Introductory Computer Science Projects that Utilize Real-Time, Large, Web-Based Datasets , SIGCSE’15, Kansas City, MO. 2015.
• E. Tilevich, C. A. Shaffer, A. C. Bart. Creating Stimulating, Relevant, and Manageable Introductory Computer Science Projects that Utilize Real-Time, Web-Based Datasets , SIGCSE’14, Atlanta, GA. 2014.
• A. C. Bart, J. Riddle, O. Saleem, B. Chowdhury, E. Tilevich, C. A. Shaffer, D. Kafura, Motivating Students with Big Data: CORGIS and MUSIC, Splash-E ‘14, Portland, Oregon. October 21-23, 2014.
• A. C. Bart, E. Tilevich, T. Allevato, S. Hall, C. A. Shaffer, Transforming Introductory Computer Science Projects via Real-Time Web Data, SIGCSE ‘14, Atlanta, Georgia. March 5-8, 2014.
• A. C. Bart, E. Tilevich, C. A. Shaffer, T. Allevato, S. Hall, Using Real-Time Web Data to Enrich Introductory Computer Science Projects, Splash-E ‘13, Indianapolis, Indiana. October 26-31, 2013.

More About BlockPy

BlockPy is a web-based Python environment that lets you work with blocks, text, or both. Designed for Data Science and equipped with powerful tools like the State Explorer and Guided Feedback, BlockPy lets students solve authentic, real-world problems.

The goal of BlockPy is to give you a gentle introduction to Python but eventually mature you into a more serious programming environment (such as Spyder or PyCharm). Long-term, we may support some game/animation design stuff that Scratch/Snap does, but that’s not the real goal.

The BlockPy project is aimed at solving some hard technical problems: having a block-based environment for a dynamic language can be tricky - are a given pair of square brackets representing list indexing or dictionary indexing? Our goal is to use advanced program analysis techniques to provide excellent support to learners.

BlockPy owes much of its power to Google’s Blockly project, the Skulpt project, Codemirror, and a host of other libraries. For a complete list, see the project GitHub.

Publications related to BlockPy:

• A. C. Bart, J. Tibau, D. Kafura, E. Tilevich, C. A. Shaffer, Design and Evaluation of a Block-based Environment with a Data Science Context, IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing ‘17. May, 2017.
• A. C. Bart, J. Tibau, E. Tilevich, C. A. Shaffer, D. Kafura, Design and Evaluation of Open-access, Data Science Programming Environment for Learners, IEEE Computer ‘17. May, 2017.
• A. C. Bart, J. Tibau, E. Tilevich, C. A. Shaffer, D. Kafura, Implementing an Open-access, Data Science Programming Environment for Learners, COMPSAC ‘16, Atlanta, Georgia. June 10-15, 2016.
• A. C. Bart, E. Tilevich, C. A. Shaffer, D. Kafura, Position Paper: From Interest to Usefulness with BlockPy, a Block-based, Educational Environment, Blocks & Beyond ‘15, Atlanta, Georgia. October 21-23, 2015.

The People Behind Kennel

Austin Cory Bart	Primary Developer (CORGIS, BlockPy) * Status: Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware * Email: [acbart@vt.edu](mailto:acbart@vt.edu) * Website: [www.acbart.com](http://www.acbart.com)
Luke Gusukuma	Developer (BlockPy) * Status: Visiting Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech
Dennis Kafura	Professor * Status: Professor (Computer Science) at Virginia Tech * Email: [kafura@vt.edu](mailto:kafura@vt.edu) * Website: [people.cs.vt.edu/~kafura/](http://people.cs.vt.edu/~kafura/)
Ryan Whitcomb	Developer (CORGIS) * Status: Undergraduate (Computational Modeling and Data Analytics) at Virginia Tech
Javier Tibau	Developer (BlockPy) * Status: Professor of Computer Science at Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral * Website: [https://thirdlab.cs.vt.edu/people/javier-tibau/](https://thirdlab.cs.vt.edu/people/javier-tibau/)
Clifford A. Shaffer	Professor * Status: Professor (Computer Science) at Virginia Tech * Email: [shaffer@vt.edu](mailto:shaffer@vt.edu) * Website: [people.cs.vt.edu/~shaffer/](http://people.cs.vt.edu/~shaffer/)
Eli Tilevich	Professor * Status: Associate Professor (Computer Science) at Virginia Tech * Email: [tilevich@vt.edu](mailto:tilevich@vt.edu) * Website: [people.cs.vt.edu/~tilevich/](http://people.cs.vt.edu/~tilevich/)
Omar Saleem	Former Developer (CORGIS) * Status: Undergraduate (Computer Science) at Virginia Tech
Jason Riddle	Former Developer (CORGIS) * Status: Undergraduate (Computer Science) at Virginia Tech