Discusses the importance of computer security and considers criminal, national security, and personal privacy threats posed by security breakdown. Several examples are given, including incidents involving computer viruses. Objectives, content, instructional strategies, resources, and a sample examination for an experimental undergraduate computer…

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)

Presents an example section from a computer-science-integrated curriculum that was originally based on the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) 1978 curriculum. The curriculum was designed to allow both instructors and students to move away from teaching and learning facts. (DDR)

This study investigated influences on employee self-efficacy of computer technologies resulting from computer-training programs that were intended to meet individual and organization objectives for university personnel. Influences on the transfer of training process included previous computer training, computer-use requirements, computer-use…

Examines the results of a survey of undergraduates to determine whether their perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes about information technology changed as a result of completing an introductory course in computer concepts and literacy. Results of pre- and post-tests as well as the computer attitude survey are appended. (Author/LRW)

Presents an empirical study of listerv usage in an undergraduate computer science course to understand how email lists contribute to the learning experience and to improve the value of listservs in courses. Provides evidence that the listerv was an important information source and was an effective tool for peer-to-peer learning. (Contains 7…

Discusses the decline in the number of female computer science graduates and presents a categorization by educational stages of the research into this decline as well as an evaluation of the generalizability of findings to broader contexts. Show that the most extensive research is done at the post-secondary stage. (Contains 53 references.)…

Standard methods of teaching an introductory course in computer science, designed to introduce computer programming as a tool for mathematicians and engineers at the university level, are unnecessarily complicated and difficult. They lack a common thread that unifies each unit of material and frequently make use of mathematical notation, technical…

The Joint Educational Facilities Inc. (JEF) computer science program has as its goal to acquaint minority and socially disadvantaged K-12 students with computer science basics and the innovative subdisciplines within the field, and to reinforce the college ambitions of participants or help them consider college as an option. A non-profit…

Many older adult have an interest in learning to use computers. The study reported in this article examined whether older adults' attitudes toward computers can be influenced by direct, customized computer training. Thirty older participants who registered for introductory computer courses offered at a SeniorNet computer lab completed the…

In recent years, tertiary institutions in developed countries have made extensive use of Course Management Systems (CMSs), software packages designed to help educators create online learning communities. To date, however, such packages have been little used in higher education institutions (HEIs) in China. In this article, we describe the…

Nondeterminism is an essential concept in mathematics and one of the important concepts in computer science. It is also among the most abstract ones. Thus, many students find it difficult to cope with. In this article, we describe some didactic considerations, which guided the development of a "Computational Models" course for high school…

This study was designed to solicit responses from senior citizens (adults over the age of 55) who had enrolled in a computer course after retirement. The information is intended to aid program planners for seniors in developing future courses. Seventy-six seniors from four local sites (Puget Sound, Washington) and two nationwide online services…

This paper investigates the relationship between learning style and programming achievement in two paradigms: imperative and functional. An imperative language achieves its effect by changing the value of variables by means of assignment statements while functional languages rely on evaluation of expressions rather than side-effects. Learning…

In the Fall of 1994, the Computer Science Department at Coastal Carolina University (Conway, South Carolina implemented a formal ethics component in the introductory computer science course required of all majors. Prior to the introduction of this ethics component into the curriculum, a survey of ethical attitudes was administered to all computer…