Carnegie Mellon Qatar holds second CS4Qatar

The two-day professional development workshop, offered by the Computer Science faculty at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, is designed for educators in Qatar who want to broaden their horizons in the ever-expanding and broad-reaching field of computer science.

'With the success of the first CS4Qatar program held last June, it is wonderful to see so many teachers wanting to come back for more: more information, more teaching tips, more Computer Science education,' says Mark Stehlik, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education in the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science, who taught the courses.

'Computer Science is a fascinating field and to see so many of Qatar's educators wanting to explore it ever deeper is very rewarding. It will only help move Qatar further and further along the computing superhighway.'

The workshop, which is part of a series of outreach events held by Carnegie Mellon Qatar, was comprised of seminars on two topics: The first was on algorithms, which are the core of Computer Science; the second focused on Java Graphics, a program that allows students to focus on programming techniques and not on the details of the graphics.

'The workshop was very successful and added a great value for us. Not only did we tap into interesting problem-solving methods, but we were also encouraged to come up with new and creative ideas using Java in graphics. The workshop was well organized, and the time was managed very well,' says Amal Abdulhadi, Head of ICT department, Al-Bayan Educational Complex for Girls.

CS4Qatar is a derivative of the Computer Science for High Schools (CS4HS) program at Carnegie Mellon Pittsburgh. That workshop disseminates curriculum modules that high school AP computer science instructors can implement in the classroom that provide students with an exposure to the versatility and applicability of the programming skills they have learned throughout the school year.

The first CS4Qatar in June had nearly 100 participants. The program was so successful that Carnegie Mellon decided to hold another one before year's end. Cs4Qatar programs will be held henceforth. By holding a series of computer science workshops, the knowledge and skills of high school teachers develops from one workshop to the next. The anticipated results are tremendous.