My interview with Alvaro Monge

Opinion
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Last week I sat down with Alvaro Monge, computer science advisor, for a discussion about the presence of women at Cal State Long Beach in the computer science department.

Our talk went well and it was shocking to see the schools enrollment statistics presented that showed how bad it actually is getting. At CSULB this fall only 35 women were enrolled in the computer science program and 308 men.

Monge showed me how his department is dealing will this huge gap between the women and men in the computer science classes.

Before computer science classes were for the most part very dull and text driven in the lower level classes, they did not leave room for students to be creative, Monge said. Now he has rearranged the classes and offered some that allow his students to be much more involved.

Monge showed me colorful pictures that the students had taken or found in which they manipulated the photo using the skills they had learned in class. This was a big hit with the students, he said.
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To view some of Monge's students work visit The Picture gallery