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Computer science: An essential course for the liberal arts

Published:01 July 1976Publication History
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Abstract

There is a wide divergence of opinion as to the appropriate content for an introductory computer science course. Approaches to teaching the subject range from “computer appreciation” presentations to rigorous courses for computer science majors. This paper presents the thesis that computer science has reached a level of maturity which allows it to be presented in a stimulating and intellectually honest manner to liberal arts students regardless of their majors, and that such a course is an important, almost essential, part of the curriculum for such students. A rationale for this view will be presented, and a course conforming to the rationale will be described.

In many liberal arts institutions, including mine, any subject which may be related to technology is regarded with suspicion; and zealous efforts are made to avoid contamination of the curriculum with unsuitable courses having a technological base. Because the rationale for the course seems to satisfy my colleagues in the more humanistic subjects, it is presented in some detail here for its possible value in other institutions.

References

  1. 1 Naur, Peter. "Programming Languages, Natural Languages, and Mathematics," Communications of the ACM, Vol. 18, No. 12, Dec. 1975, 676-683. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  2. 2 Minsky, Marvin. "Form and Content in Computer Science," Journal of the ACM, Vol. 17, No. 2, April 1970, pp. 197-215. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  3. 3 Papert, Seymour. "Teaching Children to be Mathematicians Versus Teaching About Mathematics," Int. J. Math. Educ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 3, 1972, pp. 249-262.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  4. 4 Raisbeck, Gordon. Information Theory. M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1964.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  5. 5 Papert, Seymour. "Teaching Children Thinking," Bulletin of the Assoc. of Teachers of Math., No. 58, Spring, 1972.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  6. 6 Hagelbarger, David and Fingerman, S. CARDIAC, Bell Telephone Laboratories, 1968.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  7. 7 Kreitzberg, Charles, and Shneiderman, Ben. Fortran Programming: A Spiral Approach. Harcourt Brace Javovich, Inc., New York, 1975. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library

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    • Published in

      cover image ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
      ACM SIGCSE Bulletin  Volume 8, Issue 3
      Proceedings of the 6th SIGCSE symposium on Computer science education
      July 1976
      146 pages
      ISSN:0097-8418
      DOI:10.1145/952991
      Issue’s Table of Contents
      • cover image ACM Conferences
        SIGCSE '76: Proceedings of the sixth SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
        September 1976
        154 pages
        ISBN:9781450374453
        DOI:10.1145/800144

      Copyright © 1976 ACM

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      Association for Computing Machinery

      New York, NY, United States

      Publication History

      • Published: 1 July 1976

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