Sustainability is an important topic for modern college and universities, many of whom are actively promoting sustainable practices and integration of sustainability topics into course curricula. The inclusion of socially-relevant projects and course “themes” has been shown to assist in attracting students to Computer and Information Science, and practical, problem-based applications have also been shown to attract females and underrepresented groups to the discipline. In Computer and Information Science education, most documented approaches attempt to integrate sustainable computing topics either as learning modules, open-ended project topics, or as concentrated courses. This paper describes a lightweight, non-intrusive pedagogical approach to integrating sustainability education in introductory programming courses. By creating introductory programming projects focused on sustainability topics, students are exposed to the general concepts and terminology involved with the important scientific and societal topic. This approach also allows students to see the practical applications of computing in a socially relevant context. Results of a two-year study of this approach have been encouraging, though more work is needed to assess the full impact of this approach and to overcome the limitations of the implementation context.

The use of mobile devices is becoming increasingly common in both society and in the K-12 environment. Products such as the Apple iPad and the Microsoft Surface, among others, have matured to a point where university faculty are striving to integrate this increasingly ubiquitous technology into the classroom and the curriculum. This paper represents a case study examining one attempt to integrate the use of tablets into five university-level computing courses during the 2015-2016 academic year. The author used a set of iPads and accompanying classroom technology (e.g. Apple TV, keyboards) in an attempt to engage students and build their problem-solving and collaborative skills. Student feedback suggests that students were engaged, and the results for the iPad’s impact on problem-solving and collaborative skills improved over the course of the year. A number of challenges were observed, including inadequate student knowledge of tablets, wireless connectivity issues, student resistance to the group learning afforded by the iPads, and keeping the tablets charged and clean. Future plans for the study intend to address the challenges uncovered, using student and instructor feedback as an impetus for future development. This paper serves as an experiential report designed to inform other faculty who may be looking into similar projects.