It is our hope in this paper to bring the experience and expertise of the discipline of women's studies to bear in order to develop some definite guidelines for doing collaborative learning in computer science classes. In addition, we contend that the content of many computer science courses is well-suited to this style of learning. The emphasis in the introductory assembler language course has shifted from simply teaching assembler language programming techniques to using assembler language as a tool to introduce computer architecture. Thus, for example, it no longer suffices for students to learn how to use compare instructions followed by some combination of branch instructions to achieve the desired flow of control. In addition, the student must also develop some comprehension of how the computer handles these instructions internally.
Students assimilate the material at very different rates.
Grading each assignment as it is submitted needlessly penalizes a student who finishes the course with a solid understanding of how to write a program, but who struggles with a few mid-course assignments. There are problems, however, in the presentations of the history of the field in many current texts, problems of which faculty are not always aware. Clarification of some of the problematic historical material found in current texts is presented in this article, and some suggestions are offered for additional topics which should be included in the history component of the c.s. curriculum. But the history of the field deserves the same careful treatment in these texts as do other aspects of computer science. This paper details a system to assist with the evaluation and administration of student assignments.