Whereas hackathons are widespread within and outside academia and have been argued to be a valid pedagogical method for teaching interdisciplinarity, no detailed frameworks or methods are available for conceptualizing and organizing educational hackathons, i.e., hackathons dedicated to best achieving pedagogic objectives. This paper is dedicated…

Two kinds of secret writing, codes and ciphers, are discussed. The weakness of a ciphering system mentioned in the March 1981 issue is pointed out, and an alternate method is presented. Programs written in BASIC are presented which can be used to encipher messages and help break ciphers. (MP)

Suggestions are offered for using computers to solve scientific problems rather than focusing on computer science itself. Suggested are scientific language programming, assembly-language programming, and logical design and business language programming. A summary of available equipment and some suggestions for program implementation are included.…

Described and critiqued are two ideas which have proven valuable in teaching programming at the introductory level, the mental model and the programming plan. (PK)

This manual is the second of a three-text microcomputer service and repair series. This text addresses the training needs of "chip level" technicians who work with digital troubleshooting instruments to solve the complex microcomputer problems that are sent to them from computer stores that do not have full-service facilities. The manual…

This manual is the third of a three-text microcomputer service and repair series. This text is designed to assist instructors in teaching service and repair procedures for floppy disk drives, printers, and monitors. The manual contains five units. Each instructional unit includes some or all of these basic components: performance objectives,…

Describes a computer program used in an experiment in which the partial molal volumes of sodium chloride solutions are calculated as a function of concentration from densities measured with a pycnometer. The complete program listing (also available from the author on disk) and a sample run are included. (JN)

Suggestions for five activities are presented. They include: ideas for several student problem-solving projects; preparing a flowsheet and program for 10 coin and dice games; using word processor formatting commands to create word designs; creating sounds; and writing a program to print out sums indefinitely. (JN)

A computer simulation of the Buffon Needle Problem for estimating the value of pi is discussed. (MP)

The use of the Prolog programing language is promoted as the language to use by anyone teaching a course in relational databases. A short introduction to Prolog is followed by a series of examples of queries. Several references are noted for anyone wishing to gain a deeper understanding. (MP)

Two uses of computers are outlined. The first discusses and presents a model of a program which is designed to teach students the reasoning involved in solving certain problems. The second looks at the ability of computers to count at high rates of speed, as a start for student explorations. (MP)

A teaching strategy for problem solving with computers is detailed. The approach provides a "midline" level of help that encourages exploratory activity yet provides enough guidance to increase chances of pupil success. (MP)

Offers such teaching activities as a one-line program contest, field trips, examining job openings in newspapers, and a writing activity speculating what would happen if robots did not follow Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics." Includes "Logo Goes to High School" by E. Paul Goldenberg, discussing problem-solving tasks…

Annotates reference material on artificial intelligence, mostly at an introductory level, with applications to education and learning. Topics include: (1) programing languages; (2) expert systems; (3) language instruction; (4) tutoring systems; and (5) problem solving and reasoning. (JM)