Some thoughts on graduate education in computer science

  • Authors:
  • Peter Wegner

  • Affiliations:
  • Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island

  • Venue:
  • ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
  • Year:
  • 1970

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Abstract

Computer science is a rapidly growing discipline which is having an impact not only on computer specialists but also on the wider scientific community. Its development in the next decade will be determined both by specific technical issues internal to the discipline and by the "sociology" of a growing discipline whose great practical utility has tended to overshadow the intrinsic conceptual richness of the subject matter. Educational policy in computer science should be governed in part by practical considerations such as the supply and demand of computer scientists, in part by general considerations of educational purpose and educational policy, and in part by technical considerations concerning specific subject matter, The present discussion is deliberately biased towards an "ideal" world where questions of educational purpose and motivation take precedence over practical considerations. Four aspects of computer science are considered below, each of which is loosely related to graduate education.