A “hands-on” approach to computer literacy

Authors:
Barbara G. Ryder
Affiliations:
Department of Computer Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Venue:
SIGSCE '84 Proceedings of the fifteenth SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Year:
1984

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Abstract

Computer science departments face an overwhelming demand from the university community for computer literacy courses. In 1982 at Rutgers University we began to offer a “hands-on” literacy course for non-computer science majors. The students learn the rudiments of BASIC, study “how the computer works” by learning a small pseudo-assembly language and experiment with a variety of applications software packages. Applications include text processing, modelling, game playing, CAI and spreadsheets. Our experiences with this course have been positive, although the logistics of handling 960 students per semester are formidable.