Model curricula for 4-year computer science and engineering programs

Abstract

It is with pleasure that the IEEE Computer Society welcomes this opportunity to participate with ACM members concerned with education of computer scientists and computer engineers. It is hoped that this cooperation will continue in the future. Described in this panel presentation will be the results of two years of concentrated development by members of the IEEE Computer Society Education Committee towards cohesive and flexible model curricula for 4-year computer science and engineering programs. This effort was initiated in May 1974, and since has resulted in eight working sessions, has involved 20 active module developers, has called upon nearly 40 outside reviewers, and has sought cooperation with academia, industry, the ACM and the DISE Committee. The first test of the model curricula was held in June 1976 at a IEEE Computer Society Educators Workshop; a test that seemed to be passed as judged by those attending the workshop.Specifically, this panel presentation will introduce the IEEE Computer Society effort, will place the effort in historical perspective, and will describe in detail the need as seen by many educators. It will dwell briefly on past contributions by similar committees, will provide a definition of computer science and engineering and will provide a pictorial outline of the 17 modules that comprise the five subject areas of the proposed curricula. This will be followed with selected examples of possible implementation strategies. The presentation will close with a summary of future work and a short comparison of the IEEE and ACM efforts.