Discussion of the relationship between the academic computing community and the practitioner community focuses on the possible separation of software engineering as a distinct discipline from computer science. Relationships between the content of software engineering and the content of computing are examined, and implications for computer science…

Persistent conceptual bugs exist in how novices, from primary school to college age, program and understand programs. These bugs are not specific to a given programming language but appear to be language-independent. The three different classes of bugs are: (1) parallelism, the assumption that different lines in a program can be active at the same…

Offers an overview of issues pertaining to societal readiness to cope with the information explosion. The need for computer literacy, an examination of computers in education, and the role of the National Science Foundation in computer literacy programs are discussed. (MER)

Reviews the use of computers in Great Britain's educational system, and discusses the development of computer science education, computer assisted instruction, standardization of software and hardware, computer awareness, computers in school administration and teacher training, and future trends for educational computing. (RAO)

Describes the Portable AI Lab, a computing environment containing artificial intelligence (AI) tools, examples, and documentation for use with university AI courses. Two modules of the lab are highlighted: the automated theorem proving module and the natural language processing module, which includes augmented transition networks. (23 references)…

Examines the cognitive effects of learning to program versus programming as it is experienced in introductory classes. Research studies that have analyzed the cognitive demands of programming are reviewed and criticized, problems of transfer of programming skills are discussed, and 42 references are provided. (LRW)

Discussion of human-computer interaction (HCI) as an essential part of the design of computing systems focuses on incorporating HCI into university computing courses. HCI training needs for various career profiles are given; and an outline of the contents of the Open University postgraduate module on HCI is appended. (nine references) (LRW)

This report explores the complex agenda of issues, promise, and problems that building a developmental science of programming entails and emphasizes the need to highlight different types of programming and programmers, the different cognitive subtasks involved in programming, and the social character of many programming efforts. An introduction…

Describes shortcomings of computer science/engineering education and explains a new focus on informatics. Highlights include simulation, visualization, algorithmization, design of information processing models, parallel computing, a history of informatics, informatics versus physics and mathematics, and implications for education. (51 references)…

China will suffer into the future from a shortage of computer professionals. With 75% of her population engaged in agriculture, she has only about 100,000 computer professionals, which is less than can be found within a healthy radius of Stanford University. There are 97 "key universities," but only 10 or 15 stand at the top as the…

Traces the evolution of introductory computing courses for undergraduates based on the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) guidelines published in "Curriculum 78." Changes in the curricula are described, including the role of discrete mathematics and theory; and the need for a broader model for designing introductory courses is…

This examination of computer equity argues that current educational trends--which emphasize teaching applications of computers rather than programming--will limit the computer skills of students. Added to this difficulty is the argument that some students (often minority and female students) need not be pushed to learn programming if they don't…

The new possibilities for self-fulfillment while communicating in new and more immediate ways with a growing and changing world that have been opened up by computers should be offered to all young people, and most states have launched campaigns to teach computer literacy. As we implement state-mandated computer literacy curricula, however, we need…

The first article, "LOGO and von Neumann Ideas," deals with the creation of new procedures based on procedures defined and stored in memory as LOGO lists of lists. This representation, which enables LOGO procedures to construct, modify, and run other LOGO procedures, is compared with basic computer concepts first formulated by John von…

The ever-increasing importance of technology in the future of staff training programs is examined. Information access implies that children should begin to use computers in the early educational years. Technology may redefine the roles of teachers and cause drastic changes in the learning environment so that students will be able to acquire…