Owen Astrachan

Digital Library

ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award

USA - 2016

citation

For three decades of innovative computer science pedagogy and inspirational community leadership in broadening the appeal of high school and introductory-level college computer science courses.

Owen Astrachan's contributions to computer science (CS) education have been substantial. For more than three decades, he has influenced how and to whom we teach computer science. His participation in the Advanced Placement (AP) CS program dates back to the mid-1980's when he joined the AP Computer Science Development Committee. Since that time, he has been involved in most of the advances and new developments as the AP program evolved, including overseeing the transition from Pascal to C++. Most recently he has led the effort to develop a new AP course and exam, accessible to a broader audience of high school and college-level students, Computer Science Principles.

For three decades, Owen has helped make difficult concepts in object-oriented programming and software engineering accessible via his textbook, workshops, and conference presentations. Owen is renowned for his leadership in the definition and direction of introductory computer science courses for both computing majors and non-majors at both the college and secondary levels, his impact on authoring curriculum  materials and a widely used introductory computer science textbook, his excellent teaching, and his leadership and service for over thirty years with the College Board Advanced  Placement Computer Science program.

Owen's personal attributes make him a natural candidate for this award. He is steadfast in his core beliefs about democratizing computer science education. He is a risk-taker and this attribute has been instrumental in exploring new ways to improve on opportunities for more students to learn computer science. He has taught at both the high school and college levels for nearly four decades, and has inspired generations of computer science students with his innovative and engaging teaching methods. He has influenced the direction of computer science education and led numerous initiatives that have advanced the discipline. He has devised new approaches to teaching, developed curricular resources that have been widely adopted, published on a variety of topics, and personally mentored thousands of students and educators. His approach to teaching and writing led to the coining of the term "Astrachan's Law" which states "never ask a student to use a computer to solve a problem that is more easily solved without it."

Press Release

ACM Distinguished Member

USA - 2013

2016 ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award

Owen Astrachan was named recipient of the Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award for three decades of innovative computer science pedagogy and inspirational community leadership in broadening the appeal of high school and college introductory computer science courses. Astrachan, a Professor at Duke University, is known as “Mr. AP” because of the central role he has played in the Advanced Placement Computer Science exam taken by high school students. From 1985 to 1989, he served on the committee that writes the AP CS exam, and from 1989 to 1994 he was the Chief Reader, the person in charge of grading the exam. Over his three decades of involvement, Astrachan also played a critical role as the exam’s language changed from Pascal to C++, and later to Java, the language it is given in today.

His broad knowledge of the field, and the respect he garnered within the computer science education community, made him a natural candidate to be the Principal Investigator (project lead), in a 10-year National Science Foundation-funded effort to develop an AP CS Principles course and exam. An important goal of the AP CS Principles exam is to encourage participation in computer science by traditionally underrepresented student communities. The first AP CS Principles courses were offered in the fall of 2016 and the first exam was administered on May 5, 2017 to over 50,000 students— the largest first-year AP exam administration ever.

Astrachan has also made important contributions in several other areas of computer science pedagogy at the K-12/pre-college and college level. Many regard Tapestry, his introductory textbook for C++, as one of the best in the field. His extensive publications and talks on subjects ranging from object-oriented programming to software engineering instruction have also been highly influential. His role in advancing understanding computer science at every level has been strongly influenced by the community of students, teachers, and educators from whom he has learned and with whom he has shared so much.

The Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award is presented annually to an outstanding educator who is appointed to a recognized educational baccalaureate institution.  The recipient is recognized for advancing new teaching methodologies; effecting new curriculum development or expansion in Computer Science and Engineering; or making a significant contribution to the educational mission of ACM. Those with 10 years or less teaching experience are given special consideration. A prize of $10,000 is supplied by Pearson Education.