Engaging Introductory Programming Students with CGI

Abstract

The technical component of Management Information Systems (MIS) programs can be challenging to design. Unlike computer science students, MIS majors tend to take relatively few technical courses, yet are expected to graduate with a broad array of computer skills. To meet these expectations, foundation courses are often designed to serve multiple objectives. For example, as a first course in an upper division undergraduate MIS major, the author teaches an introductory programming course in the C++ language. Beyond teaching the basic elements of programming and computer architecture, that course is expected to explore data representation (a foundation for data communications), the file-handling concepts (the building block of databases), and basic application construction (a core concept of systems analysis and design). To meet these multiple objectives, programming courses need to limit the number of language features introduced. A particularly common target for simplification is input and output (I/O). The development of a graphic user interface is quite complex and text-based (console) I/O is sufficient to teach most programming concepts. Unfortunately, limiting I/O in this fashion also leads to programs that appear dated by today’s standards. In consequence, students can easily develop the perception that programming is a wholly uninteresting activity, unworthy of serious consideration as a career. To counteract such a perception, exercises need to be provided that engage students in the programming process and demonstrate its potential. In this vein, one class of exercises that we have developed allows the student to write programs that interact with a Web browser. Such exercises can be easy to construct and utilize the same console I/O that students have been taught. In addition, these exercises introduce key data communication concepts (e.g., HTML) and demonstrate clientserver design. In this brief, an example of such an exercise is described.