We are pleased to announce that the ICER 2021 research track review process is now over. This year, the research track received 158 submissions, with 30 accepted for publication in the proceedings in the ACM Digital Library (a 19% acceptance rate).

All papers were double-anonymous peer reviewed by three members of the Program Committee and meta-reviewed by one member of the Senior Program committee. Papers for which additional discussion was warranted were then discussed across four online Senior Program Committee meetings. For the first time, the conference also incorporated a minor revisions process, allowing papers to be conditionally accepted, revised, and then reviewed again by the Senior Program Committee and Program Chairs. Overall, 11 papers were conditionally accepted, and all were fully accepted after revision. For the first time, an independent awards committee was formed to select Best Papers and Honorable Mention awards. These will be announced prior to the conference.

ICER will also include several additional activities. The lightning talks and posters track will include presentations of ongoing work. The doctoral consortium will engage a dozen doctoral students at various stages for mentorship, feedback, and networking. The Works in Progress workshop will offer mutual support for developing research ideas and designs. We will also have an outstanding keynote from Dr. Tamara Clegg, an Associate Professor in the College of Information Studies and the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy, and Leadership at the University of Maryland. Dr. Clegg will share her work and perspectives on the importance of community in computing education in her talk, Communities, Computing, and the Carolinas.

You can see the tentative program here:

https://icer2021.acm.org/program/program-icer-2021/

We hope to see you all at ICER this August 16-19 for a highly interactive four days of computing education research sharing and conversations! Early registration ends July 5th.

Amy J. Ko, Program Co-Chair Renée McCauley, Site Co-Chair Jan Vahrenhold, Program Co-Chair Matthias Hauswirth, Site Co-Chair