Writing in CS: Why and How?

Mia Minnes, Bruce A. Maxwell, Stephanie R. Taylor, Phillip Barry

Abstract: The importance of written communication and critical thinking in Computer Science is widely acknowledged. It was called out specifically in the curriculum guidelines ACM CS2013 [6] and has been the topic of a number of previous SIGCSE papers, for example [1-4]. Moreover, writing as a pedagogical practice can help make CS more accessible for a broader population. However, special challenges may arise for students who are English-language learners or have writing-specific learning differences.