In a seminal article published in 2006, Jeanette Wing described computational thinking (CT) as a way of "solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior by drawing on the concepts fundamental to computer science." Wing's article gave rise to an often controversial discussion and debate among computer scientists,…

This article describes the use of fractal simulations of African design in a high school computing class. Fractal patterns--repetitions of shape at multiple scales--are a common feature in many aspects of African design. In African architecture we often see circular houses grouped in circular complexes, or rectangular houses in rectangular…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate student understanding and application of computational thinking patterns to novel situations. Over 500 students, who had just designed and programmed a Frogger-style game using the AgentSheets platform, responded to a newly developed video-prompt survey instrument administered in the Fall 2010 semester.…

Studying fundamental Computer Architecture and Organization topics requires a significant amount of practical work if students are to acquire a good grasp of the theoretical concepts presented in classroom lectures or textbooks. The use of simulators is commonly adopted in order to reach this objective. However, as most of the available…

This article proposes a VHDL language course that establishes a strong correlation between the language statements and their use in circuit synthesis. Two course modules are described: a basic module that contains the essential concepts of the language, sufficient for students to describe medium complexity circuits, followed by a second module…

Described is a computer simulation designed to introduce students to some of the intricate relationships between the many factors involved in international economics. (MP)

Articles in this issue of "Global Journal of Computer Science and Technology" include: (1) Input Data Processing Techniques in Intrusion Detection Systems--Short Review (Suhair H. Amer and John A. Hamilton, Jr.); (2) Semantic Annotation of Stock Photography for CBIR Using MPEG-7 standards (R. Balasubramani and V. Kannan); (3) An Experimental Study…

Intended for use by educators, educational administrators, and directors of training within industry, this guide lists commercially available products and services in the field of computers and education. It contains descriptive information wherever possible and comparison charts designed to enable the prospective user to make a preliminary…

Computers have undoubtedly entered the educational arena, mainly in the areas of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) and artificial intelligence, but whether educators should embrace computers and exactly how they should use them are matters of great debate. The use of computers in support of educational administration is widely accepted.…

Register transfer level (RTL) descriptions of digital systems have certain advantages over other descriptive techniques, especially during early phases of the design effort. There are at least three identifiable major uses for RTL-type descriptions. First, RTL can serve as documentation of digital processor behavior, recording in a concise fashion…

The study of the dynamics of physical systems is of importance to all engineering students. LSSP, a Linear System Simulation Program, is used to study the behavior of physical phenomena and systems which may be represented to a good degree of approximation by linear models. Emphasis is placed upon the unity resulting from the mathematical…

Presents a program in Level II BASIC for a TRS-80 computer that simulates a Turing machine and discusses the nature of the device. The program is run interactively and is designed to be used as an educational tool by computer science or mathematics students studying computational or automata theory. (MP)

An analog/hybrid simulation of a Digital Volt Meter (DVM) and an incremental analog-to-digital (A-D) converter are presented. An analog simulation of planar frames is also presented. (MLH)

Discusses a study which investigated whether a computer simulation model could suggest subroutines that were instructable and whether instruction on these subroutines could facilitate subjects' solutions to the problem task. (JM)

Question and answer format concludes a series of articles on computing. (Editor)