Ten simple rules for designing and running a computing minor for bio/chem students.
other · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35834439.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010202 and PMC identifier 9282537.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Science students increasingly need programming and data science skills to be competitive in the modern workforce. However, at our university (San Francisco State University), until recently, almost no biology, biochemistry, and chemistry students (from here bio/chem students) completed a minor in computer science. To change this, a new minor in computing applications, which is informally known as the Promoting Inclusivity in Computing (PINC) minor, was established in 2016. Here, we present the lessons we learned from our experience in a set of 10 rules. The first 3 rules focus on setting up the program so that it interests students in biology, chemistry, and biochemistry. Rules 4 through 8 focus on how the classes of the program are taught to make them interesting for our students and to provide the students with the support they need. The last 2 rules are about what happens "behind the scenes" of running a program with many people from several departments involved.
Medical subject headings
- Students