ACM Curriculum Research Articles

IS and MIS: a compromise?

The information manager today is usually educated in a college of business with curriculum requirements guided by the DPMA guidelines for the management information systems, MIS, degree or in a computer science department with curriculum requirements guided by the ACM curriculum for information systems. There is considerable feedback to educators that such people although talented and well trained have enough flat sides in their background to make it necessary to expend considerable resources to make them useful to the organization as a well rounded and well grounded information analyst or manager. The complaint is heard that the MIS types are not technically oriented enough and the IS types are not management oriented enough. The authors undertook a study of the complaints, the suggestions, the current curriculum guidelines and the existing programs. Out of this study emerged a proposal for a degree which blends the current ACM and DPMA guidelines, adds new requirements and suggests different teaching methodologies. The proposal has the potential to address many of the current deficiencies perceived by employers of MIS and IS graduates but it has other problems including acceptance within a traditionally organized and funded university. This paper addresses our solution, its merits, and shortcomings.

A set of workshops for high school computer science teachers

This paper outlines a set of workshops to provide training for certified high school computer science teachers. Upon the completion of the four core workshops, a high school teacher would have an excellent background to teach high school computer science as detailed in the new proposed ACM Curriculum for high school certification. The workshops should also do a good job upgrading the background of high school computer science and computer math teachers to teach courses currently in the high school curriculum. One workshop, PASCAL with Applications to Data Structures, was specifically designed to prepare current high school teachers to teach a PASCAL course whose goal is to prepare students for the advanced placement test. Each of the six workshops is a three semester hour course and most carry graduate credit. Three of the six courses have already been offered and more should be taught next summer. The reception of the high school teachers to the workshops has been very enthusiastic.

A component part for a performance course

The maturation of Computer System Performance Courses is briefly described giving excerpts from the two major ACM curriculum documents and providing a list of possible texts for such a course. It is then proposed that a course in performance evaluation contain a component on the role of performance work in the product life cycle. A prototype model for this is described in detail. The description includes the need for such work, who accomplishes it, what sort of interactions are necessary and appropriate, and what steps comprise integrating performance work into a product life cycle.

Recommended curriculum for CS2, 1984

A Report of the ACM Curriculum Task Force for CS2

Experiment in programming laboratory

An implementation of a programming laboratory is described. Under this implementation, the emphasis is on the motivation and objectives, which are closely patterned after the ACM Curriculum '78 requirements. The resultant effects on students' performances and attitudes to programming are described. An achievement of this implementation is the systematic breakdown of students' psychological fear of programming and program debugging.

Recommendations for the first course computer science

Working under the Curriculum Committee of the Education Board of the ACM, the committee has developed a detailed analysis of the requirements of the first course in computer science as described in the current ACM curriculum guidelines. The report includes the material which should be included in such a course and also recommendations for effective presentation of the material. Discussion of the computer laboratory and implications of increased exposure to programming experiences by incoming students is included.

ACM curriculum committee report computing programs in small colleges

The Curriculum Committee of the Education Board of ACM has established as an ongoing committee a Small College Group. This committee will make a presentation of its report at this symposium and will provide an opportunity for attendees to comment. Various aspects of computing programs will be considered, including obtaining qualified faculty, providing appropriate equipment and the selection of a suitable and manageable set of courses.

Information systems curriculum recommendations for the 80s

The recommendations of the 1972 and 1973 ACM Curriculum Committee on Information Systems programs have been influential in the development of degree programs at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels. The earlier curriculum has been revised and updated based on advances in the field over the past nine years. The report discusses the continuing need for education related to the definition, analysis, design, construction, and management of information systems in organizations. The structure of both bachelor's and master's level programs are described and courses are defined. Course outlines include rationale for the courase, course objectives, instructional modes, and a list of topics. Each topic is weighted in terms of suggested percent of time devoted to the subject.

The new Computer Science

Requests from local industries led to the need for new curricula in Computer Science at the University of South Carolina at Spartanburg. The faculty discovered that the body of courses outlined in Curriculum 78 could be manipulated into alternative curricula, while leaving the standard ACM major intact. Indeed, the ACM curriculum includes exactly half of the “technical” courses required in the DPMA Model Curriculum. Thus, by using Curriculum 78 as a base, it is possible to implement a number of specialized degree programs without creating new courses and adding the new faculty required to teach them.

The UW-Whitewater management computer systems program

Employers of students trained in computer science and data processing fall largely in three categories: manufacturers of computer equipment, software houses, and finally end users of the computers. Of these categories, most employment opportunities are in the third category, the end user. For each employer there is a range of positions from systems programmer to applications programmer to business systems analyst. Figure 1 shows the organization chart of a medium sized systems and data processing area in a company that manufactures consumer products. Of the sixty five positions which would require a degree in computer science or data processing, in at most seven (perhaps only two) of these positions would the traditional computer science graduate be preferred (if the employer had a choice). At the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater our program is aimed at the large number of positions where a business background is helpful. In addition to introductory programming we require three programming courses, two analysis and design courses, a course in hardware and software selection and a course including data base management. In addition, all students must have at least 15 hours of business courses including two accounting courses and a management course. Our graduates have the technical ability to be good programmers and/or systems analysts, and they have the business background so that they can talk to users in the users own language. In developing the major the faculty consulted outside business computing managers and the ACM Information Systems Curriculum 1 . Many of the courses in the major are very close to those specified in the ACM curriculum.

From Curriculum '68 to Curriculum '78(Panel Discussion)

“Curriculum '68”, the recommendations of the ACM Curriculum Committee on Computer Science (C 3 S), established computer science as an academic field of study and specified to a great extent its content. The field has evolved over the ten years since the publication of the report; however, it remains an important reference point, still being used to describe courses and programs. The ten year period following the publication of “Curriculum '68” saw C 3 S carefully monitoring the changes and developments in computer science education at the undergraduate level. This work resulted in the preparation of a new set of recommendations, “Curriculum '78”, which are to appear in the February 1979 Communications of the ACM .

Systems analysis and design in a computer science curriculum

Some of the recent dialogue in computing publications and conferences has dealt with a topical area referred to as "software engineering" or "systems analysis." This paper provides a description of a course in this area and a discussion sufficiently adequate for the implementation of the course in an undergraduate computer science curriculum. The course is recommended for inclusion in the ACM curriculum guide under the special topic, "Software Engineering: Large Systems Design."

A historical, generalistic, and complementary approach in introductory computer science education

A polished version of “Computers and Programming” of ACM Curriculum 68 is presented. The central theme here is the design philosophy of the course. The approach is (1) historical, in that it quickly draws an idealized picture of the history of computers and programming. It is (2) generalistic, in that it teaches various sides of the subject, including advanced software engineering ideas, in parallel in a balanced manner. Finally, it is (3) complementary, in that it takes into account the fact that a conventional Fortran course, corresponding to “Introduction to Computing” of Curriculum 68, is being taught simultaneously by another instructor.

Review of "Survey of public attitudes toward computers in society by Ahl, David H." Creative Computing 1, 6 (Nov.-Dec. 1975), 49-51.

This paper is the first comprehensive effort to survey and review the literature on computer science education published since Curriculum 68 [Report of the ACM Curriculum Committee on Computer Science, Comm. ACM 11, 3 (March 1968), 151-197]. Over 200 items are listed in the bibliography; they are dlscussed in coherent subject areas such as the philosophy of computer science programs, description of programs, descriptions of courses, and specialized areas such as master's degree and small-college programs.

Session details: Implementation of the ACM curriculum recommendations

Session details: Implementation of the ACM curriculum recommendations

Implementation of the ACM curriculum recommendations

The ACM curriculum recommendations and those of other societies are written with an abstract collegiate environment in mind. There is, however, considerable variance among schools both with regard to their objectives and their resources. The panel representing a spectrum of teaching situations will lead a discussion as to how society recommendations can be of use in curriculum planning.

Evaluation of the Model Curriculum in Computer Science and Engineering

Curriculum reports in computer science and engineering have traditionally resulted from committees, working in relative isolation. Once chosen, the members of such committees as the ACM Curriculum Committee on Computer Science and the COSINE Committee have held meetings, debated, occasionally consulted with resource people, and then have published their results. Informal prepublication reviews have occurred, but no formal, formative evaluation of previous work in CSE curriculum has ever been published.

Relevance of computer science education to industry and government needs - A critique of the proposed update to curriculum '68

It is frequently suggested that computer science curricula are generated in a vacuum with little or no regard for the “real-world needs” of the student's ultimate employer. Furthermore, the question has recently been raised whether computer science programs should prepare their graduates to be “tool users” or “tool builders.” The panel, composed of distinguished representatives from industry and Government, will relate their past experience with computer science graduates and will address their immediate personnel needs (i.e., areas of required expertise for new employees). Each panel member will then present his candid view of the proposed updates to “Curriculum '68” currently being prepared by ACM's Curriculum Committee on Computer Science.

Classroom use of replaceable parts in a multiprogramming system

A multiprogramming operating system for the TI980A permits replacement of system primitives by a programmer familiar with the system's design and data structures. This paper describes the hardware features available; the method of use of the replaceable parts facility; typical student assignments for an operating systems course (e.g. ACM Curriculum '68 I4); and student reaction to the projects.

The technology of computer center management

McFarlan and Nolan have made a strong case for adding a course on information systems administration to the 13 courses proposed by the ACM Curriculum Committee on Computer Education for Management for Graduate Professional Programs in Information Systems. This paper is a report on a course entitled, “The Technology of Computer Center Management,” which has been offered at Purdue for the past four years. The course is suitable either for graduate professional programs in information systems or for graduate professional programs in computer science.