Describes and compares the degree programs in Computer Technology and in Computer and Information Science that are offered in the Purdue University System. Areas of comparison include degrees available; curriculum differences, including mathematics requirements and required and optional courses; faculty; and educational and employment…

Describes how World Wide Web delivered visual explanations of programming constructs have been used to supplement conventional instructional methods and materials traditionally employed introductory programming courses. Explanations are constructed using inexpensive commercial software that supports the use of animation, graphics, color, and…

Examines male and female high school students' attitudes toward computers in relation to gender and computer experience. Findings revealed: males showed a more positive attitude toward computers even when computer experience was controlled; females were less interested in computer science (CS) than males, however no gender differences were found…

Describes the first online undergraduate certificate program in programming which was created specifically for the deaf and hard-of-hearing at Rochester Institute of Technology's (RIT's) National Technical Institute for the Deaf College. Explains modifications to videotaped lectures as well as possible future plans. (LRW)

The primary purpose of this study was to analyze different perceptions displayed by novice programmers in the C++ programming language, and determine if modularization ability could be improved by an instructional treatment that concentrated on solving computer programs from previously existing modules. This study attempted to answer the following…

The computer science high-school teaching community of practice possesses a rich collection of distributed practical knowledge consisting of individual teachers' expertise regarding pedagogy. However, without a proper means of communication and rules of discourse, the individual pieces of knowledge might not be transferred properly within the…

Roles can be assigned to occurrences of variables in programs according to a small number of stereotypical patterns of use. Studies on explicitly teaching roles to novices learning programming have shown that roles are an excellent pedagogical tool for clarifying the structure and meaning of programs and that their use improves students'…

Roles of variables is a new concept that captures tacit expert knowledge in a form that can be taught in introductory programming courses. A role describes some stereotypic use of variables, and only ten roles are needed to cover 99% of all variables in novice-level programs. This paper presents the results of an experiment where roles were…

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

This research emerged from an effort to develop a theory of computer anxiety relevant to beginning adult learners in a range of university disciplines. To this end, the first step was to design and refine an instrument which was reliable and valid for this population. The development of the "a priori" model of computer anxiety used in this study…

This curriculum is proposed to enhance problem-solving ability through learning to program in BASIC. Current research shows development of problem-solving skills from learning to program in BASIC. Successful treatments have been based on contemporary problem-solving theory, top-down, modular programing, and rigorous length and intensity. The…

Parameter passing is the mechanism by which various program modules share information in a complex program; this paper was a study of novice programmers' understanding of the parameter construct. The bulk of the data was collected from interviews with eight college students enrolled in a state university introductory computer programming course.…

This study examined the roles which note-taking method (either pencil and paper or an online computer notepad) and style (verbatim, paraphrasing, etc.) play in retention and depth of processing during computer-delivered instruction. Participants were 112 junior and senior undergraduates from a southern Minnesota university whose major was computer…

This study guide presents lessons on hand calculating various statistics: Central Tendency and Dispersion; Tips on Data Presentation; Two-Tailed and One-Tailed Tests of Significance; Error Types; Standard Scores; Non-Parametric Tests such as Chi-square, Spearman Rho, Sign Test, Wilcoxon Matched Pairs, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and Rank Sums;…

This lab manual is designed to accompany a college course introducing students to computing. The exercises are designed to be completed by the average student in a supervised 2-hour block of time at a computer lab over 15 weeks. The intent of each lab session is to introduce a topic and have the student feel comfortable with the use of the machine…