This page provides detailed information about working group submissions to the ITiCSE 2024 conference. It is part of the general Call for Participation which you should read first, if you have not yet done so.
If you have questions that neither this page nor the Call for Participation can answer, please contact the working group chairs.
Important dates for working groups
Important dates can be found in the sidebar on the right.
What is a working group?
An ITiCSE working group is an collaborative research project conducted by a team of between five and about ten researchers from around the world to produce a high-value report on a topic of interest in computing education.
Before the conference
A working group begins with a proposal written by up to four working group leaders. The proposals are reviewed by the working group co-chairs, who decide which proposals can proceed to recruit members. The selected working groups recruit members through the WG pages on the conference website and by other means.
Once applications close, the WG leaders select their group’s members from the list of applicants. There is then a short period of negotiation during which the WG chairs try to resolve any groups that are oversubscribed or undersubscribed. The final WG consists of five to about ten researchers, including the WG leaders. The viable groups (ones who have recruited sufficient members) then begin their collaboration and work until the time of the conference.
Immediately before the conference
On the Thursday preceding the conference (4 July), working group leaders will meet in person with the WG chairs for an introduction session. For the next three days, working groups will meet for all-day collaboration and writing. A draft of their final report is to be presented to the working group chairs at the end of the third day, Sunday 7 July.
During the conference
The conference will include a session in which each WG gives a brief presentation of their project. In a break from previous practice, the working groups will not continue their work during the conference; instead, they are encouraged to attend conference sessions.
After the conference
Following the conference, the WG chairs will provide general feedback on the overall direction and scope of the work and inform groups that will not continue to publication.
Upon receiving the WG chairs’ feedback, the WGs have some time to continue their work and update the report, which is then submitted for rigorous review.
Reports accepted following review are given a few weeks to respond to the reviewers’ suggestions and are then submitted for publication in a supplement to the conference proceedings.
Formatting the proposal & practical organisation plan
The bullet list below summarizes the requirements for a Working Group proposal. Details follow the list.
- the proposal uses the same format as used for paper submissions
- the proposal begins with a two-page ‘paper’ with these topics
- background and related work
- goals of the proposal
- proposed methodology
- expected deliverables
- and includes citations
- the proposal also includes a one-page appendix that includes
- inclusion criteria for member selection
- a proposed work-plan
- estimation of good WG size
- a discussion of prior WG experience of proposers/leaders
1. Proposal Body (2 pages)
The submission is not anonymous: it must include the authors’ names and affiliations. The remainder of the two-page proposal body should be used to explain the background of the work, the goals, the proposed methodology, and expected deliverables. This can, and should, read like the beginning of a research paper as the working group should be conducting research.
The successful working group proposal will be based in existing literature, propose meaningful work worthy of a working group effort conducted by a multi-cultural team. Additionally, it should be clear the methodology is appropriate, and the expected results are both reasonable (achievable) and meaningful
Note: The successful proposal can result in two publications: 1) an extended abstract published with the conference papers, and 2) the full final report published after the conference. These two publications should have two different titles. (Save your preferred title for the full report.)
2. Proposal Appendix (1 page)
The proposal appendix is a maximum one page, and should include the following details:
- inclusion criteria for member selection, and how the leaders will encourage diversity of membership
- proposed work-plan that includes considerations for different time zones and collaboration technology (and alternatives) and how these choices will support engaged members
- schedule of expected meetings prior to the conference and milestones or other progress points
- an estimation of the number of members that can contribute meaningfully to the project
- a discussion of proposers/leaders prior WG experience
3 Submitting the proposal
Follow the instructions on Submission process at the foot of the Call for Participation page.
The Full Working Group process
The working group process spans about 11 months, including time before and after the conference. The ‘phases’ of work include the following:
- Proposal – the proposal process is described above
- Recruitment – leaders of accepted working groups advertise to recruit members
- Membership – in coordination with WG Co-Chairs, the leaders select members from the applicant pool
- Pre-conference work – working groups work during the months prior to the conference
- On-site work – in the days before the conference, working groups work at the conference site
- Conference presentation – working groups present their progress to conference attendees
- Post Conference Feedback – working group co-chairs provide feedback and the approval to continue
- Post Conference work – working groups continue work to complete the report for about three months
- Review – working group co-chairs decide which reports will be published based on detailed reviews
- Revisions – working groups respond to reviews to produce camera-ready report
- Publication – the reports are published
Questions
If you have questions about anything discussed above, please contact the Working Group chairs. iticse2024wg@easychair.org