Undergraduate computer science education

Abstract

The rapid development of electronic computers coupled with the very successful popularization of the actual and possible roles of computers has put higher educational institutions in a peculiar situation. Most universities and colleges, even while attempting to organize computer programs, have shown very little grasp of the need for computer science education. The computer manufacturers themselves have often seemed opposed to such education while eager to sell machines to be managed atrociously by untutored personnel. It is obvious that equipment as expensive as computers are, should be in charge of very well prepared people. It is also obvious that businesses, industries, and governmental agencies are not prepared to provide an adequate background in computer science. It would be a grievous error, however, to treat the computer science area as one which is merely technical and not fit for a liberal education. The intellectual character of computer science as we shall indicate more fully later, is at a higher level of thought then many computer scientists themselves realize.A strange situation has arisen in the computer science area largely due to its spectacular growth. This is the absence of well-established leaders. True, there are many competent people who have achieved a degree of recognition but there are none who have achieved a status comparable to many from the older sciences. Those computer scientists who have been best placed to lead have ignored computer science education.