9 responses

Summary

Your background information

Name of your institution

SUNY Farmingdale

SUNY Delhi

farmingdale

SUNY Sullivan

Farmingdale State College

SUNY Farmingdale College

Is your institution part of SUNY? Even if you are not from a SUNY institution, your feedback is appreciated.

Yes	9	100%
No	0	0%

Your name

Tammy Porter

Anne Galante

Shannon Shoemaker

Mary Villani

David Pollack

David Gerstl

Arthur Hoskey

marie pullan

Sheryl Schoenacher

Your email

galanta@farmingdale.edu

hoskeya@farmingdale.edu

sheryl.schoenacher@farmingdale.edu

mary.villani@farmingdale.edu

gerstld@farmingdale.edu

pullanm@farmingdale.edu

dpollack@sunysullivan.edu

tporter@sunysullivan.edu

shoemasl@delhi.edu

We recognize that our 64 SUNY campuses have a broad spectrum of programs related to computing, under various names and housed within different schools. What is the name of your department or program?

Computer Science	0	0%
Information Technology	1	11%
Computer Engineering	0	0%
Management Information Science	0	0%
Information Systems	1	11%
Other	7	78%

What is the name of your school (or division)?

Natural and Mathematical Science	2	22%
Business	6	67%
Engineering	0	0%
Other	1	11%

How many years have you taught CS or related subjects?

<5 years	3	33%
>5 years	2	22%
>10 years	1	11%
>15 years	2	22%
>20 years	1	11%

Are you interested in serving as a reviewer of the outcome of the project?

Absolutely	2	22%
Possible	5	56%
Do not bother me	1	11%
Other	1	11%

Which course does your program offer as the first computing related course?

Computing Technology	0	0%
Introduction to Computer Science	1	11%
Computer and Society	1	11%
Computer Literacy	2	22%
Programming in C++	4	44%
Other	1	11%

Please share your thoughts on how to improve Introduction to Computer Science or related courses in order to benefit more students?

Have a survey or questionaire that the students complete so I as an advisor know which intro level course to put them into.

Start at very basic level of logic

These courses need to be more hands on and financially supported to be so.

more experiential and interesting

None

I thnk there needs to be more hands on approach. Students need to consistently read the code and diagnose what the code is doing.

Needs to be as hands on as possible. The more active learning that can be introduced into the course the better it will be.

There are two audiences here: Those who may become majors (need an intro to CS thinking) and those who will not (need a survey course, similar to the topics in the "Turing Omnibus"). I suppose the later would be better as a generally applicable course

Cover a broad specturm of topics

Are there any issues you have experienced in teaching this type of course?

Sometime students are shy and may not want to read the code out load in front of the class. Instructors should start slowly with small sections of code and add new sections as the course progresses.

N/A

Lack of lab space dedicated to CS courses

Students need a slow introduction

Not applicable, I don't teach

Lack of programming experience. Simply not taught in high school coupled with students with vast experience.

lack of interest, too difficult

Course content can be dry and uninteresting to students.

Not really. It does, however, require a relatively broad view of the field by faculty if they are to be more than just reading the textbook the week before the students

If you have to name the first course to support seamless transfer in your discipline, what do you think the course name should be?

Programming in C++	3	33%
Programming in Java	0	0%
Programming Logic and Problem Solving	1	11%
Computing Literacy	1	11%
Microsoft Office Suite	0	0%
Introduction to Computing	2	22%
Other	2	22%

What is the biggest issue you think SUNY, as a system, is facing in its attempt to improve CS or related courses in a holistic way?

make them more interesting

All the CIS courses at all the institutions are so varied that how does one know which school would be good to transfer to from a 2 year community or tech college/program.

We have a very wide variety of schools with different levels of CS students

There are different approaches as pointed out in your survey, information systems versus hard core computer science, can't level it in one school no less across all SUNYs

Some courses do not transfer between SUNY schools

Many instructors and their administrations are hesitant to try new teachng methodologies.

Professors with different experiences in CS

The battle between academic freedom and the need for a more cohesive transfer path.

Not sure

Your input is greatly appreciated

Introduction to Computer Science needs to be accessible to all students, including non-majors, so that they can make an informed decision in choosing CS or NOT choosing CS as their major.

Strong Agree	6	67%
Agree	3	33%
Neutral	0	0%
Disagree	0	0%
Strongly disagree	0	0%

Please share your thoughts regarding the above question.

Some students will not have a clue.

That is strongly agree. I have read about techniques that separate students by their levels of previous experience. This helps the slower learner not be ashamed and allows the faster learned to be more challenged. This would involve pretesting.

Needs to give students a realistic overview of CS subjects and also be as fun and interesting as possible.

There are such a variety of jobs in computing, not everyone has to be hard core programmer (computer science student).

students dont know what they are getting into with CS courses

But some students are ready. Some have extensive computer backgrounds. Theyre needs to be a standardized electronic test..

Whether we like it or not, computing is a major part of society.

CS content should be seen from a more global perspective as it relates to the other content/specialty areas that students may study in.

If we make it to technical, we'll scare away those who aren't dead-set on CS as a major already.

Do you agree that the whole SUNY system should have one semi-standardized concept-based Introduction to Computing course for all disciplines?

Absolutely	3	33%
Very much	3	33%
Not sure	2	22%
I do not think so	1	11%
Absolutely not	0	0%

Please briefly expand on your answer.

I think that each course should teach what the industry in the area surrounding the institution needs.

The major is very different in the SUNY's, so I'm unclear if a single class makes sense.

Different programs will have different entry requirements

it should be offered

Should be a universal course

Standardization is important.

Just like having an understanding of the other General Education areas outlined by SUNY campuses, CS should be another learning outcome to help the student become better consumers of knowledge and understanding of the demands of the greater world.

In todays world it is as important as writing and math.

Students will be more likely to try out an Intro CS course if they know it is transferable. More students being exposed to an Intro CS course will increase the chance that they decide to major in CS. Increased enrollment in CS is beneficial to the STEM field in general.

Do you think it would be beneficial to have the proposed course be included in SUNY Seamless Transfer?

Yes	6	67%
Neutral	2	22%
No	1	11%

Please answer the following questions. Your constructive input is greatly appreciated.

Which of of the following do you believe is the best name for this proposed course?

Introduction to Computer Science	1	11%
Introduction to Computer Science and Information Technology	3	33%
Introduction to Computing	2	22%
Fundamental Concepts of Computing	2	22%
Other	1	11%

If there were three overarching learning outcomes from this proposed course, what should the first learning outcome be?

Be able to write (in pseudocode) algorithms to solve basic computing problems

Overviews of network, a programming language, and operating systems

The student will learn some of the major fields of specialization in CS, and passable career tracks so they can make informed choices when choosing their major. Areas of specialization that will be covered are Computer Architecture, Operating Systems, Networking, Database, Security, and Mobile Computing.

NA--I am not a Computer Science teacher

Excitement to program;

developing a logical approach to problem solving

Students will understand core IT concepts as related to current and emerging technologies in order to apply them to a variety of tasks based on their major.

Knowledge of hardware

how to write a basic program

What should the second learning outcome be?

Knowledge of basic commands

Be able to explain how the program that a programmer writes gets executed by a computer (at a high level, for interpreter, compiled and bytecode cases)

Students will be able to use technology to locate, access, evaluate, and use information, and appropriately cite resources.

The student will be able to identify the areas of a computer system: software, hardware, processes, storage, inputs and outputs.

how to fill an array

Ability to detect coding errors in code;

NA--I am not a computer science teacher

general problem solving skills and approaches

Broad inro to CS and related topics

What should the third learning outcome be?

Ability to understand how programming relates to real world problems.

how to provide output

Be able to specify how computer techniques can be applied to other disciplines (not all of them will become CS majors--they should be able to envision using CS in other areas)

not sure

Knowledge of programming

applying logic and design in a computing environment

The student will know enough about the major areas of Computer Science and Information Technology to be able to make an informed decision about whether or not to major in CS or a related field.

NA--I am not a computer science teacher

Students will be able to compare and contrast the impact of technology on various social issues.

Which fundamental concepts should be taught in the proposed course? In other words, which areas of Computer Science, Information Systems, and Information Technology do you think should be included in this course? Please choose the eight topics that you think should be the core of the course.

Computer Hardware (CPU, RAM, Secondary Memory, etc.)	7	78%
Computer Architecture	2	22%
Modern Operating Systems - how to use an OS (such as Windows, Linux/Unix, Mac OS)	5	56%
Modern Operating Systems - what an OS does and how it does it	6	67%
Understanding file systems	4	44%
Application software overview (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Publisher, IE, etc.)	3	33%
The basic functioning of the internet (www, HTML, HTTP, browsers, etc.)	4	44%
Discrete Mathematics overview (sets, relations, logic, arithmetic)	1	11%
Sustainable computing, green IT and e-waste	1	11%
Basic console commands (Unix/Linux or DOS commands)	3	33%
Mobile Computing (issues for mobile computer such as low resources, Android vs iOS, storing data in the cloud)	2	22%
Cyber security (basic types of attacks, simple encryption algorithms)	2	22%
Overview of computing fields (programming, networking, database, etc.)	7	78%
Beginning database concepts and basic SQL	2	22%
Basic ideas of programming (variable declaration, if, loops, simple functions, testing)	4	44%
Beginning C++ or Java programming	4	44%
Javascript or another scripting language	1	11%
Basic web development (HTML, CSS coding)	0	0%
Computer and society, ethics, privacy, intellectual property rights, etc.	3	33%
Issues regarding opensource vs. commercial licensing	1	11%
Other	1	11%

Please specify any textbooks you would suggest using for the course?

I do not know one

Computer Science: An Overview (11th Edition), by J. Glenn Brookshear, published by Prentice Hall 2011.

I might start with the The New Turing Omnibus, although I sense that's not the direction you are going in. I'd also recommend "how to solve it" by Polya. I don't see a single book covering all the parts of this (although I suppose we could write one)

Please specify any online materials you would suggest using for the course?

IEEE, ACM

Lots of stack overflow

If you are interested in contributing to this project, please specify how you would be willing to contribute.

Write a course component	4	44%
Provide assessment questions	0	0%
Provide slides	0	0%
Other	5	56%

Any other thoughts you would like to share with your SUNY colleagues?

Add hands-on exercises and group exercises as much as possible. It makes it more fun and interesting.

While I think doing this as an intro to CS for possible majors is great, I might also suggest we consider whether there should be a CS survey course applicable to the core at some SUNY schools--higher on abstract thinking, with perhaps a bit less coding.

Good luck on this project!