Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site psivax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!genrad!decvax!ittvax!dcdwest!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!psivax!woof From: woof@psivax.UUCP (Harold Schloss) Newsgroups: net.college,net.cse Subject: Re: Should Computer Science be taught at the High School level? Message-ID: <210@psivax.UUCP> Date: Wed, 19-Dec-84 13:27:18 EST Article-I.D.: psivax.210 Posted: Wed Dec 19 13:27:18 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 21-Dec-84 07:42:54 EST References: <241@mss.UUCP> <705@ames.UUCP> <44@rti-sel.UUCP> Reply-To: woof@psivax.UUCP (Harold Schloss) Distribution: net Organization: Pacesetter Systems Inc., Sylmar, CA Lines: 39 Xref: watmath net.college:561 net.cse:275 Summary: It would seem to me that most high school students would be easily taught enough about a computer to be educated users. By this I mean, they would know about storage devices (floppies) and the need for backing them up. They would know the rudiments of some operating system. They would know enough to write a program in some language that printed to the screen or other output device, got input from the user, had a subroutine, and at least one loop. (This is loosely based on the Harvard College requirements for all undergraduates.) To be really complete they could learn about recursion. The language that is used to teach this doesn't seem to me to be a very important issue. It should be (in my opinion) a language that does not require the teacher to get really bogged down in teaching some unique method of programming. Languages I feel might be appropriate are BASIC, PASCAL, C, and similar types of languages. I don't feel that LISP or PROLOG are good vehicles for learning computer programming initially. They are not relevant to most programming environments I have encountered so far. They are efficient for the tasks they were designed I'm sure, but it seems to me that they are somewhat difficult for someone's first language. (I'm aware that other people hold strong opinions on the subject that may differ, so try not to flame me too much.) My first experience with computers came with a class taught in the afternoons at the local high school as part of California's Mentally Gifted Minors program. I was in the sixth grade at the time and we were taught a rudimentary form of assembly language on an old Litton computer. (It even had a drum memory!) As I remember there was very little in the way of an age barrier to understanding the computer, but I will admit the class was self selected. The group of kids involved obviously had some interest in the subject already though. It would have been nice to have taught a high level language, but it took an hour to load FORTRAN 2 off the paper tape so we made do (quite well) with the built in assembly language. I think that we would have learned just as much if we had been taught the same subject matter in the 3rd grade. -- Hal Schloss (from the Software Lounge at) Pacesetter Systems Inc. {trwrb|allegra|burdvax|cbosgd|hplabs|ihnp4|sdcsvax}!sdcrdcf!psivax!woof