Bridging the Gap between Computer Literacy and Computer Science

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Bridging the Gap between Computer Literacy and
Computer Science
4th Annual LTSN-ICS Conference NUI Galway Galway,
Ireland August 28, 2003
Bob Shive Millsaps College Jackson, MS, USA

• Ken Abernethy
• and
• Kevin Treu
• Furman University
• Greenville, SC, USA

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The Background

• All computer science departments agree that . .
  .
• . . . there is no agreement on the content of a
  beginning computer science course.

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The Background (contd)

• 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.

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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?
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The Current Situation

• What is the proper preparation for the
  introductory computer science course (CS1)?

Literacy/Fluency Course
CS 0 Course
No Prerequisite Courses
students could move along these lines
normal preparation for CS1
an optional preparation for CS1
CS 1 Course
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Problems with this Approach

• The literacy course concentrates on computer
  applications and generally does not provide an
  introduction to algorithmic thinking.

Literacy/Fluency Course
not very good preparation for success in CS1
Few additional options for a follow-on course
CS 1 Course
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Problems with this Approach (contd)

• Few students in the literacy course are likely
  to be attracted to CS0.

Literacy/Fluency Course
CS 0 Course
few students take this route
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Problems with this Approach (contd)

• The CS0 course attracts only those students who
  already think they may want to major in CS or a
  related discipline.

doesnt attract a large potential audience
CS 0 Course
CS 1 Course
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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?

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Proposed New Course

• Algorithms and Problem-Solving with Scripting

possible beginning course for those with
basic computing skills
Literacy/Fluency Course
broad-based follow-on
Algorithms Problem-Solving with Scripting
preparation for
CS 1 Course
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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

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Some Example Applications

• Javascript slide show
• Code segment

var myPix new Array(image1.jpg",image2.jpg)
var thisPic 0 function processPrevious() if
(thisPic gt 0) thisPic-- document.myPicture.s
rcmyPixthisPic   lt! HTML CODE --gt ltIMG
SRCimage1.jpg NAMEmyPicturegt ltA
HREFjavascriptprocessPrevious()gt Previous lt/Agt
nbsp ltA HREFjavascriptprocessNext()gt Next
lt/Agt
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Some Example Applications

• Pedagogical objectives
• Easy, fun
• Variables
• Arrays
• Assignment
• Subroutines
• Decisions
• Client-side scripting
• http//s9000.furman.edu/treu/test/slideshow.html

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Some Example Applications

• PHP display of thumbnails from database
• Code segment

SQL "Select Imageid,Image from images where
PlayIDpID order by Imageid" result
mysql_db_query("CSSC", SQL) counter 1 echo
"(Click on a thumbnail to see the full size
image.)ltpgt" echo "lttable width500 aligncenter
border0gtlttrgt" mysql_data_seek(result,0) while
(resultObject mysql_fetch_object (result))
echo "lttd aligncentergtltimg
srcthumbnails/thumb" . resultObject-gtImageid .
".jpggtlt/tdgt" if (counter 4 0) echo
"lt/trgtlttrgt" counter counter
1 echo "lt/trgtlt/tablegt"
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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
  ?folderdatabasefileplaythumbspID12

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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 "
" thisi "\n"
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Some Example Applications

• Pedagogical objectives
• Fun
• Variables
• FOR loops
• Object-oriented programming
• http//actionscript-toolbox.com/samplemx_php.php

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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

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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.

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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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Comments / Questions ?