SIGCSE

Traditional undergraduate Computer Science curricula have been increasingly challenged on a host of grounds: undergraduate computing education is attracting fewer majors, is not producing graduates who satisfy the needs of either graduate programs or ...

Since its introduction by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) in 1987, the SEI Software Process Maturity Model has gained wide visibility and acceptance by industry. Its overall goal is to enable an organization to assess its software process ...

We discuss our experience with integrating three key ideas of software engineering into our data structures course: formal specifications, information hiding, and bottom up programming. The idea of formal specifications is fostered by the introduction ...

This paper takes the stand that it is never too early to teach so-called “hard” concepts in computer science. Specifically, basic principles in parallel algorithm development and software engineering can be introduced to students first learning about ...

The paper examines a large project for an Expert Systems course, the Automated Student Advisor, which assists students in selecting courses for the next semester. The system was designed and implemented in the last third of a semester course by students ...

This paper describes the development of FLAIR (Flexible Learning with an Artificial Intelligence Repository), a repository of educational material and of a highly visual computing environment for use in laboratories associated with the introductory ...

Over four years ago, we developed and implemented an upper division general studies course. “The Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence.” The course has since been team taught every semester by a computer scientist and a philosopher. Here, we draw on our ...

A key component of our attempt to integrate the object-oriented paradigm into introductory and intermediate courses is algorithm visualization. Such visualization depicts an algorithm as a sequence of graphical snapshots of data structures that are ...

Over the past year we have changed our CS 1 course from a standard Pascal-based, procedural programming course into one that emphasizes C++ and object-oriented programming (OOP). While our experience to date indicates that this was a good decision for ...

The ability to comprehend a program written by other individuals is becoming increasingly important in software development and maintenance. In an attempt to encourage undergraduate Computer Science students to write informative and usable documentation,...

In this paper, we present an approach for the introduction of problem solving and algorithm development in the first computer science course. Our technique is a more formal and systematic approach to programming based on generalizing a pattern after ...

Demonstration programs distributed by software publishers are an inexpensive source of software examples for student use. These programs can be used in a variety of computer classes and for a variety of assignments. They provide examples of different ...

Recommendations of the ACM/IEEE Joint Curriculum Task Force on the Core of Computer Science and the dissatisfaction with the poor performance of too many CS1 students at Middle Tennessee State University combined to motivate the Computer Science ...

KLYDE is a software workbench that helps students study issues related to the design, implementation, and empirical analysis of algorithms. Using the system's graphical user interface students can design and conduct experiments to study the efficiency ...

We have developed a course in scientific and statistical programming consisting of an introduction to computer programming and data analysis concepts using a variety of software packages. This approach addresses the problems inherent in introducing ...

We report here our cumulative 2-year experience with the “The Digtal World”, a course designed to increase the technological literacy of non-science students. The course relies heavily on computer-aided instruction, including the extensive use of ...

Our contention is that there now exists a considerable body of lab exercises that may be used in conjunction with introductory courses. There are fewer models available for instructors of more advanced programming courses, especially those courses which ...

If students are to internalize software engineering concepts and incorporate them into their individual software development styles, they must use these concepts during the initial stages of their computer science education. In this paper, we examine ...

This paper focuses on the interpersonal issues, often referred to as “team dynamics,” that can become quite important as students construct a large-scale programming project. Differing methods in which teams can develop phases of such projects are ...

The first step in designing a college level computer literacy course is to define what is meant by computer literacy. Unfortunately no consensus exists as to what the label “computer literate” should imply. The difficulty in both defining computer ...

Loop invariants have long been present in advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on programming methodology or program correctness. Recently there has been an increased interest in using loop invariants in teaching more elementary courses. In this ...