EAAI-20 Program Schedule

last updated: Jan 15, 2020

Saturday, February 8, 2020

8:55 - 9:05: Welcome
Nate Derbinsky and Lisa Torrey

9:05 - 9:55: #AIForAll: A 64-year Perspective on AI, Computing, Inclusion, and Diversity
Marie desJardins

Link to slides: bit.ly/eaai20keynote

As the AI community prepares to celebrate the 2^8 anniversary of the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence that launched AI as a field, it is an appropriate time to look back over the last 64 years to consider how far we have progressed. This presentation will focus particularly on trends in education, diversity, and inclusion in AI and in computing more generally. The talk will also include recommendations for the field, including an increased emphasis on ethical computing, best practices for inclusive classroom and work environments, and how to be an effective ally for underrepresented groups.

Marie desJardins is the winner of this year’s Outstanding Educator award. She is the Dean of the College of Organizational, Computational, and Information Sciences at Simmons University in Boston. She was previously a professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she was a UMBC Presidential Teaching Professor, Academic Innovation Fellow, Honors Faculty Fellow, and Associate Dean of UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology. She is an AAAI Fellow, an ACM Distinguished Member, and the recipient of the A. Richard Newton Educator ABIE Award, the UC Berkeley Distinguished Alumni Award in Computer Science, and mentoring awards from CRA-E and NCWIT. Dr. desJardins is known for her research in artificial intelligence, her work in expanding access to K-12 computer science education, and her leadership as a mentor, teacher, and champion for diversity in computing. While at UMBC, she advised 12 Ph.D. students, 26 M.S. students, and over 100 undergraduate researchers.

9:55 - 10:30: Blue Sky Ideas
Chair: Nate Derbinsky

10:30 - 10:50: Coffee Break

10:50 - 11:30: Main Track
Chair: Lisa Torrey

11:30 - 12:30: AI for Education Track
Chair: Nate Derbinsky

12:30 - 2:00: Lunch Break

2:00 - 3:00: Main Track
Chair: Lisa Torrey

3:00 - 3:30: Model AI Assignments
Chair: Todd Neller

3:30 - 3:50: Coffee Break

3:50 - 4:35: Model AI Assignments
Chair: Todd Neller

Sunday, February 9, 2020

9:30 - 9:40: Welcome
Nate Derbinsky and Lisa Torrey

9:40 - 10:30: On Contemporaneous Computing Education: ML for K-12
Ben Shapiro and Abigail Zimmerman-Niefield

Computer science is a field of remarkable breadth, with problems in human-computer interaction alone spanning natural language processing, visual, audible, and tangible interfaces, accessible design, social computing, art-making. Machine learning is now being applied in every one of these domains. Bruner claimed that “any subject can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of development.” Computing education must take up this call, including offering developmentally-appropriate machine learning education. I will present a vision for how this could unfold, share progress on my team’s efforts to develop machine learning education for youth, and discuss ongoing challenges.

R. Benjamin Shapiro is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is also faculty, by courtesy, in Learning Sciences & Human Development (School of Education) and the Department of Information Science (College of Media, Communication, and Information). His research group, the Laboratory for Playful Computation (LPC), investigates the design of experiences and technologies for young people to learn computer science through collaborative, creative expression and through their own design of interactive technologies to solve problems in their homes and communities.
Abigail Zimmermann-Niefield is a PhD Student in Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is co-advised by Ben Shapiro and Shaun Kane, and is broadly interested in creativity, literacy, and agency in ML. Her research focuses on how people with little programming experience can learn about and apply Machine Learning by creating models of their own body movements. She draws on theories and methods from human computer interaction and education. She has a B.A. in Mathematics and Computer Science from Williams College.

10:30 - 10:45 Poster Previews
Chair: Lisa Torrey

10:45 - 11:00: Coffee Break

11:00 - 11:40: AI for Education Track
Chair: Nate Derbinsky

11:40 - 12:10: Model AI Assignments
Chair: Todd Neller

12:10 - 1:45: Lunch Break

1:45 - 2:25: Main Track
Chair: Lisa Torrey

2:25 - 3:15: K-12 AI Education in 2020
Panel: David Touretzky, Christina Gardner-McCune, Cynthia Breazeal, Roozbeh Aliabadi

3:15 - 3:30: Coffee Break

3:30 - 4:00: Model AI Assignments
Chair: Todd Neller

4:00 - 4:15: Research Challenge Announcement
Todd Neller

4:15 - 4:45: Community meeting
All attendees are invited to join us for a community meeting at the end of EAAI-20. This will be an opportunity to ask questions and make suggestions for EAAI-21 and beyond. Bring your thoughts and ideas for the future of EAAI!