The chairperson of the mathematics department of a school that has one of the oldest mandatory computer classes in the country advises emphasizing applications, not programing, in computer classes. (MLF)

The first volume of a two-volume computer science curriculum guide, reflecting the technology of the mid-1980s, presents 61 lessons on advanced computer literacy topics for high school students. The majority of the lessons focus on advanced programming skills in BASIC. Other topics covered include word processing, printers, document management,…

Presents a rationale for changing from the current emphasis of precollege computer courses on BASIC programming skills to a focus on teaching applications software skills. Reviews research regarding the quality of computer literacy courses. Discusses parallel cognitive and affective consequences of programming and applications software. Promotes…

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)

Offers suggestions for five computer-oriented classroom activities. They include uniting a writing class by having them collectively write a book using a word processor, examining FOR/NEXT loops, using a compound interest computer program, and developing a list of facts about computers. Includes four short programs which erase monitor screens. (JN)

Presents four teaching activities (suitable for high school students) which focus on: use of LOGO paddles; a database of student interests (to use in career-oriented units/projects); probability related to two or more students having the same birthday; and reading of print statements on the monitor. (JN)

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…

A teacher's description of how the microcomputer was integrated into her school, first in programming courses and later into other curriculum areas. (Author/JM)

The Purdue School of Engineering and Technology (Indianapolis, Indiana) sponsored a career exploration program for physically handicapped high school students. Each group of students spent three mornings in one of four engineering and technology areas. In the computer section, half the time was spent in the classroom discussing such topics as what…

The purpose of this publication is to serve as a course of study for Data Processing I, which is designed for 11th and 12th grade students in a business education program. Intended to give guidelines to school staff and teachers for planning and organizing instructional programs, it lists program goals, student outcomes, and unit activities. The…

Discusses a short computer program used in teaching the random (RND) function in the BASIC programming language. Focuses on the mathematical concepts involved in the program related to elementary probability. (JN)

A survey of over 700 Ontario secondary schools was conducted in 1987 and again in 1989 to determine the current status of computer programing pedagogy. Presents an overview of the computer education curriculum for grades 10-12 and results related to hardware utilization, choice of programing languages, availability of teacher and student…

This study analyzed the enrollment of two computer classes at a public high school in northern Indiana to see if there was any computer inequity. The two classes examined--an introduction to computers course and a computer programming course--were studied over a period of four years. The sample consisted of 388 students in four years of the…

Students with a semester or more of instruction often display remarkable naivety about the language that they have been studying and often prove unable to manage simple programming problems. The main purpose of this study was to create a set of problem-plan-program types for the BASIC programming language to help high school students build plans…

The second volume of a two-volume computer science curriculum guide, reflecting the technology of the 1980s, presents 66 lessons on advanced computer literacy topics for high school students. Topics include advanced programing concepts in BASIC, spreadsheet management, telecommunications, writing a computer-assisted-instruction program, computers…