Empowering faculty with innovative tools to enhance computational thinking in their teaching practices is the goal of the online event, Computational Thinking Hui Panel Series #1: Empowering Faculty through Indigenous Perspectives, which will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 14, via Zoom.
Participants will hear the experiences and insights of successful Indigenous computational thinkers. While the focus is on faculty, the event is open to everyone — University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu faculty, staff, and students, and the community — to learn and engage.
“With this hui talk story session, I hope to start a conversation on our campus about how we humans connect to computational tools, and in that vein, to think about how we serve the people of Hawai‘i,” said Dr. Esther Widiasih, professor of Mathematics with the Math, Natural, and Health Sciences Division at UH West O‘ahu.
The event’s featured panelists will be:
- Kari Noe: a Kaua‘i native and a graduate research assistant in Computer Science at the Laboratory for Advanced Visualization and Applications (LAVA) at UH Mānoa
- Angela Marquez: a Navajo native, outreach program manager of the University of Arizona Data Science Academy, and an accomplished Data Science educator
The Computational Thinking Hui is a gathering place primarily for UH West O‘ahu faculty and staff to equip them with the tools in a learning community to elevate computational thinking in teaching practices; expand the knowledge base to serve a diverse community of students in an Indigenous-serving institution; and provide funding to support computational thinking research for themselves and for their students.
The Computational Thinking Hui and its monthly panel events are part of the Partnership in Advancing Computational Thinking (PACT) project, a collaboration between UH West O‘ahu and Kaua‘i Community College. As part of PACT, researchers are exploring a model for Native Hawaiian and other Indigenous-serving institutions to better prepare students and faculty in the face of emerging technological advances, such as generative artificial intelligence (AI). The project is funded by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Tribal Colleges and University Program.
To attend Computational Thinking Hui Panel Series #1: Empowering Faculty through Indigenous Perspectives, register at https://go.hawaii.edu/aUE. For inquiries, email widiasih@hawaii.edu.