The iliad and the WHILE loop: Computer literacy in a liberal arts program
Arnow D.
1991
Proceedings of the 22nd SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, SIGCSE 1991
3
10.1145/107004.107019
A required computer literacy course whose design and implementation were greatly influenced by that of required courses in classics and other liberal arts is described. The course is an instance of the new trend of principles-based courses, but does not take the survey approach. Topics are chosen selectively on the basis of importance to the field, usefulness in demystifying the computer itself, and their ability to be compatible with a hands-on, exercise-oriented pedagogy. Topics include propositional logic, digital circuit design, information representation, a Pascal subset, program hierarchies and software engineering principles. The course has been successfully run in over 30 sections with over 1000 students. © 1991 ACM.
Bierman A.W., An overview course in academic computer science: A new approach for teaching nonmajors, The Proceedings of the Twenty-first SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, (1990); Cheney L.V., 50 hours - A core curriculum for college students, National Endowment for the Humanities, (1989); Paul Myers J., The new generation of computer literacy, The Proceedings of the Twentieth SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, (1989); Paul Myers J., The central role of mathematical logic in computer science, The Proceedings of the Twenty-first SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, (1990); Van Dyke C., Taking 'Computer literacy' literally, Comm. ACM, 30, 5, (1987)
Association for Computing Machinery, Inc
Conference paper
All Open Access; Bronze Open Access
Scopus