Bridging the Gap between Computer Literacy and Computer Science
Ken Abernethy and
Kevin TreuFurman UniversityGreenville, SC, USA
Bob ShiveMillsaps CollegeJackson, MS, USA
4th Annual LTSN-ICS ConferenceNUI Galway
Galway, IrelandAugust 28, 2003
The Background
All computer science departments agree that . . .
. . . there is no agreement on the content of a beginning computer science course.
The Background (cont’d)
A grant from the Associated Colleges of the South (USA) funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation gave us the opportunity to consider a new type of course that goes beyond traditional computer literacy.
After several iterations, we saw an opportunity to develop a course that is a bridge from literacy to CS.
The idea is based on using concepts that serve as a “follow-on” from pre-college work or from a computer literacy course.
The new course should provide students a better forecast of CS than most literacy courses do.
The Challenge
Large numbers of students take a computer literacy/fluency course.
There are few options for them to move naturally to additional CS courses.
Very few of these students go on to enroll in the CS1 (or similar) course.
How can we attract some significant portion of these students to further sample the discipline?
The Current Situation
What is the “proper” preparation for the introductory computer science course (CS1)?
Literacy/FluencyCourse
CS 0Course
CS 1Course
an optional preparationfor CS1
students could move along these lines
“normal” preparationfor CS1
No PrerequisiteCourses
Problems with this Approach
The literacy course concentrates on computer applications and generally does not provide an introduction to algorithmic thinking.
Literacy/FluencyCourse
CS 1Course
not very good preparation for success in CS1
Few additional options for a
follow-on course
Problems with this Approach (cont’d)
Few students in the literacy course are likely to be attracted to CS0.
Literacy/FluencyCourse
CS 0Course
few students take this route
Problems with this Approach (cont’d)
The CS0 course attracts only those students who already think they may want to major in CS or a related discipline.
CS 0Course
CS 1Course
doesn’t attract a large potential audience
Two Questions
Is there a type of computing course (different from literacy or CS0) that would: be attractive to students in general; encourage them to consider continuing with CS1?
What topics might provide the content for a course that would: serve as a natural follow-on for the literacy course; act as a bridge to the discipline of computer science?
Proposed New Course
Algorithms and Problem-Solving with Scripting
Literacy/FluencyCourse
CS 1
Course
preparation for
Algorithms & Problem-Solving with Scripting
broad-based follow-on
possiblebeginning coursefor those with basiccomputing skills
Main Course Topics
Software development life cycle Algorithms and their development Web programming with JavaScript Server-side scripting with PHP Online databases with MySQL Writing applications for Access and Excel
using VBA Java applets Animation with Flash and ActionScript
Some Example Applications
Javascript slide show Code segment:
var myPix = new Array(“image1.jpg",”image2.jpg”)
var thisPic = 0
function processPrevious() {
if (thisPic > 0) {
thisPic--
document.myPicture.src=myPix[thisPic]
}
}
<!– HTML CODE -->
<IMG SRC=”image1.jpg” NAME=”myPicture”>
<A HREF=javascript:processPrevious()> Previous </A>
<A HREF=javascript:processNext()> Next </A>
Some Example Applications
Pedagogical objectives: Easy, fun Variables Arrays Assignment Subroutines Decisions Client-side scripting
http://s9000.furman.edu/~treu/test/slideshow.html
Some Example Applications
PHP display of thumbnails from database Code segment:$SQL = "Select Imageid,Image from images where PlayID=$pID order by Imageid";
$result = mysql_db_query("CSSC", $SQL);
$counter = 1;
echo "(Click on a thumbnail to see the full size image.)<p>";
echo "<table width=500 align=center border=0><tr>";
mysql_data_seek($result,0);
while ($resultObject = mysql_fetch_object ($result)) {
echo "<td align=center><img src=thumbnails/thumb" . $resultObject->Imageid . ".jpg></td>";
if ($counter % 4 == 0) { echo "</tr><tr>"; }
$counter = $counter + 1;
}
echo "</tr></table>";
Some Example Applications
Pedagogical objectives Fun (of course!) Database access Looping an indeterminate number of times Modulo arithmetic File manipulation Server-side scripting
http://www.centrestage.org/index.php ?folder=database&file=playthumbs&pID=12
Some Example Applications
Flash address book with ActionScript and PHP Code segment:
// Sending information from Flash to PHP
var c = new LoadVars();
c.thisLetter = "A";
c.send("dbquery.php","_self","POST");
// Receiving information from PHP
var c = new LoadVars();
c.onLoad = function() {
returnvals.text = "returned from php: \n\n";
for (i in this) {
returnvals.text += i + " = " + this[i] + "\n";
}
};
Some Example Applications
Pedagogical objectives Fun… Variables FOR loops Object-oriented programming
http://actionscript-toolbox.com/samplemx_php.php
Preliminary Student Response Scripting topics were added to 4 sections (81 students,
four different instructors) of a literacy course at Furman University during Spring of 2003.
Students were asked to describe their reaction to the coverage of scripting-related topics:
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
CSS JScript JScript Apps Forms Applets
much more
some more
about right
too much
Course Delivery – One Example
A variety of course delivery designs could be employed.
Materials will be further tested at Millsaps College and Furman University next year.
At Furman, a new course Introduction to Computing with Scripting will be taught in Spring of 2004. Assumes Web authoring skills and basic computing
knowledge Class carries four semester hours of credit
Topic coverage is being developed modularly. Meets five 50-minute periods per week Two-hour lab each week
See http://s9000.furman.edu/cs17 for online syllabus with tutorials.
Conclusions A course with a focus on algorithmic thinking and scripting is
proposed to provide a bridge experience from a computer literacy course to CS1.
The course design is modular to allow various delivery options.
Preliminary experiences with scripting modules in a literacy course have been positive:
37% of responses from 81 students in four sections indicated that they would have liked some more or much more coverage of sample scripting topics.
An additional 56% of responses indicated that the coverage was about right.
Only 7% of responses indicated that the coverage was too much. A new course, Introduction to Computing with Scripting, will
be offered and assessed at Furman University in Spring 2004. Modules will tested at Millsaps College during 2003-2004.
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