CS0++ broadening computer science at the entry level: interdisciplinary science and computer science

  • Authors:

  • Judith Bayard Cushing;Richard Weiss;Yoshiya Moritani

  • Affiliations:

  • The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington;The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington;The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
  • Year:
  • 2007

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Abstract

The National Science Foundation has noted declining enrollments in computing, increasing workforce needs for graduates, and changes in the computing education needed in the future. They thus sponsored four regional workshops which each suggested ways to increase enrollments: multiple entry points to the undergraduate major, better presentation of computing careers, interdisciplinary courses and projects, and innovative approaches to computer science (CS) minors. This paper describes a quarter-long full time interdisciplinary program for entry-level mathematics, science, and CS students, designed to broaden the current curriculum in response to a drop in CS enrollments and thus to better retain majors and attract students from other disciplines as minors. The program met several strategic directions identified by the NSF workshops. Organized around a forest ecology case study, the program integrated an entry level study of CS with statistics, ecology, and the philosophy and history of science. This paper describes that program, and suggests how the curricular design and materials are exportable to other institutions as linked courses or an interdisciplinary case study.