Some Introductory Courses Highlight Breadth

Long history of experiments that seek to show students the breadth of the discipline at an early stage. Here are just a few examples that suggest the long history of this approach.

• Breadth-first Curriculum described and promoted in Computing Curricula 1991; some textbooks by Allen Tucker et al.
• Decker and Hirshfield, The Analytical Engine (1993 with Hypercard; second edition in 2003 highlighting the Internet)
• Computer fluency for general students following NRC Report, using Lawrence Snyder, Fluency with Information Technology: Skills, Concepts, and Capabilities (editions in 2002, 2004/2005, 2007) and Henry Walker, The Tao of Computing (2004)
• A focus on "Big Ideas", describing "the relationship between a number of major sub-disciplines within computer science, including functional and imperative programming, computer architecture, and theoretical computer science" (a new introductory option described by Christine Alvarado at Harvey Mudd College)

Some Approaches Emphasize Foundational Skills

Many of the most successful of these approaches include an application area that provides a framework for problem solving and programming.

• Use of multimedia (Python based) at Georgia Tech
• SIGCSE 2009 workshop 21: MediaScripting: Media Computation in Context (Scheme Based) from Grinnell
• Use of robotics at several places, including Spellman, Bryn Mawr, Georgia Tech
• Theme of networking or encryption as context for CS ideas
• Multi-paradigm approach of Liberal Arts Computer Science Consortium
  (e.g., functional problem solving in CS1, object-oriented or imperative problem solving in CS2); article in JERIC

created 1 March 2009 last revised 3 March 2009

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