waashk/acm huggingface dataset:
an accelerated program in computer science  this paper is in the nature of a preliminary report on a pilot project aimed at developing quality instructional materials in three basic areas of computer science (problem solving and programming, hardware and software) for presentation in a concentrated manner. a total of 162 90-minute (54 periods per area) class periods in a classroom environment and an equal amount of supervised workshop study are contemplated. it is expected that the project implementation would extend the capability of the computer science departments across the nation to offer a unique opportunity to students to earn a special minor in computer science and/or to prepare for entering a computer science graduate program - all in the shortest possible time. the courses were offered for the first time during the summer of 1981. the course outlines, the background of the participants and other details of the project are included in the paper.  onkar p. sharma ali behforooz
on students presenting technical material to non-technical audiences in a computer science curriculum  much attention has been given regarding the lack of writing ability of our graduating students. many of these same students cannot make reasonable oral presentations of predominantely technical material to peers, graduate students, or faculty much less to an audience consisting of mostly non- technical (lay) persons. this paper examines one such attempt to do so for twenty undergraduate students in a computer science curriculum. the reactions of the presenters as well as those of the audiences are given.  wm j. mein
ethics and computer use  over the past 50 years, computers have undergone transformation from monolithic number crunchers, to centralized repositories of management information systems, to distributed, networked, cyberspace support systems. during the same period, uses of computers have moved from computational problems to life support, from machine language to guis, from abstractions of work to virtual reality on the world- wide web. these transformations have brought with them situations that have ethical implications.  sue conger karen d. loch
designing for a dollar a day  this paper is about the kind of tools and techniques that are accessible to resource weak groups for use in design and evaluation of computer support. "resource weak" means in this connection, that the economic power and the ability to control the "local environment" of the group is limited. the human resources of such groups are often (potentially) strong, but restrained by the organization of work and society; and although the tools are cheap the activities are demanding in terms of human resources. this kind of work should be seen as a supplement to participation in design processes controlled by others. when end users participate in projects set up by management, these "lay" designers often lack familiarity with the tools and techniques, they lack the power and resources to influence the choice of questions to be considered, and they are not the ones deciding how to utilize the results of a design project when actually changing the workplace.  to give the context of the work on which the paper is based, i first describe the scandinavian tradition of trade union based end user participation in systems development. then i discuss some of the issues involved in improving the conditions for independent end user design activities. i go on by presenting a set of "cheap tools" and techniques, including the use mockup's. this set covers the issues of establishing the possibility of alternatives, of creating visions of new and different uses of technology, and of designing computer support. a central question in relation to the tools and techniques, is their accessibility to end users, and i discuss this based on the notions of family resemblance and "hands-on" experience.  morten kyng
computing in the home: shifts in the time allocation patterns of households  an empirical study of 282 users of home computers was conducted to explore the relationship between computer use and shifts in time allocation patterns in the household. major changes in time allocated to various activities were detected. prior experience with computers (i.e., prior to purchase of the home computer) was found to have a significant impact on the time allocation patterns in the household. the study provides evidence that significant behavior changes can occur when people adopt personal computers in their homes.  nicholas p. vitalari alladi venkatesh kjell gronhaug
progressive project assignments in computer courses  this paper presents a method of design for projects in computer courses that tends to enable all students in the class to achieve their maximum potential. each project is structured at three progressive levels of difficulty corresponding to three prospective grades a, b, and c. the b-level is an extension of the c-level and the a-level is an extension of the b-level. each student starts at the c-level and progresses as far as possible and is scored accordingly.  robert leeper
a special group of users: instructional faculty  a university user services staff serves a wide variety of users: students, staff, administrators, research faculty and instructional faculty. this paper reports on methods used to provide support to instructional faculty.  short-term, concentrated support offered to instructional faculty includes introductory short courses directed to special groups of students, advanced seminars tailored to individual courses, machine room tours, equipment usage demonstrations, specialized consulting services and documentation. assisting in setting up common files for classroom use as well as reviewing course assignments, job control language, and logon instructions are frequently sought services.  with proper planning and coordination, the jobs of both user services and faculty are simplified to the great benefit of the student and the educational process. examples of services will be reviewed.  geraldine macdonald
an open discussion on public policy as usual, the column is multi-topic. it starts with a brief review of the siggraph public policy program. this is followed with some comments (and my responses) on the program raised by an interested siggraph member. once again, myles losch presents recent information on digital copy protection, including its potential application to free terrestrial broadcast digital tv. we provide a review of the 2000 edition of one of the most important conferences at the intersection of competing and public policy, the acm sponsored computers, freedom and privacy conference (cfp). and finally, we describe the availability of our third on-line survey. bob ellis
a survey of attitudes toward computers  what do people really think about computers and their impact? in 1970, a study of people's attitudes in north america showed computers to be regarded as either "beneficial tools of mankind" or as "awesome thinking machines." a recent survey taken in australia and reported in this article, though, suggests there may have been a change in attitudes over the past decade. the australians expressed much concern over the computer's possible disemploying and dehumanizing effects---as well as disquiet over the control computers could exercise over their lives. if these attitudes are typical beyond the shores of australia, they could create a barrier to the widespread acceptance and application of computers around the world.  perry r. morrison
the computer graphics course in a small-college computer science program  computer graphics has moved from the laboratory to everyday use in the last few years. new graphics programming systems and low-cost, high- powered computers have made computer graphics both much easier and much less expensive to use --- and to both teach and learn. these now allow a beginning computer graphics programming course to be accessible to any student with reasonable programming skills, and consequently to be a service to a number of disciplines. this allows the course to take on a unique position on a small campus where cross-disciplinary interaction is valued. the author is developing such a course with a focus on graphics in the sciences, and will describe how the projected course topics and projects can involve students in scientific issues and support the development of skills in scientific visualization.  steve cunningham
computer graphics pioneers when editor gordon cameron asked me if i thought a regular column in _computer graphics_ authored by computer graphics "pioneers" would be a good idea, i responded with an enthusiastic "yes." then he asked me if i wanted to write it, and i became somewhat less enthusiastic. however, i've been able to convince sherry keowen, executive director of the computer graphics pioneers, a society comprised of long-time computer graphics professionals, to co-write the column with me. between the two of us, we should be able to develop a regular feature.of course, there is one question we might ask: "is anyone really interested in a column about the computer graphics pioneers?" at the august 1996 board meeting of the editorial board of _ieee computer graphics and applications (cg&amp;a;),_ i suggested that _cg&amp;a;_ do something in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of acm siggraph conferences. one of our board members looked me in the eye and said, "is anybody interested in that old stuff?" that's a valid question. however, since we attracted about 2,000 to the "into the fifth decade of computer graphics" panel on the last day of siggraph 96, i suppose i can respond with a tentative "yes."in any case, we plan to share with you some stories of the people and events that have shaped computer graphics; some quite significant, some modest recollections. carl machover
it skills portfolio research in sigcpr proceedings: analysis, synthesis and proposals  this paper provides an analysis on information technology (it) skills portfolio issues from the perspective of firms. the motivation behind this study was our observation that firms are having increasing difficulty in determining their optimal skills portfolio and in acquiring and managing that portfolio in turbulent times. because a shortage of skilled it professionals with has been a common theme from the early days of computing, we believe that an analysis of past work using the skills portfolio perspective gives us insights into the gaps where future is research can illuminate this area. first, the paper reviews 102 it skills portfolio related papers that appeared in the sigcpr proceedings between 1985 and 2000. then the thesis of these papers are summarized and classified according to what skills portfolio firms look for and how they acquire and maintain skills. particular attention is paid to the gaps in the research to date. finally, a set of research issues and propositions are given based on the analysis.  makoto nakayama norma g. sutcliffe
computer whatcha-maycallit: insights into universal computer education  a year's work on the nsf/university of tennessee high school computer science project (hscs) has indicated that it may indeed be possible to dissociate computer skills from the scary, elitist traditions of science and math curricula in high schools. teachers and students remote from the traditional science/math constituency are learning to play/work with the computer. the development of hscs is chronicled and some likely scenarios for its arrival on the high school scene are presented. the essential context is that of a race between declining computer hardware costs and declining support for public education. hscs is succeeding because it exploits computing's unique ability to bridge between the worlds of play, study and employment.  j. m. moshell c. e. hughes c. r. gregory r. m. aiken
person-job matching in the eighties  one of the major tasks of a personnel psychologist is to match persons with jobs. this industrial match- making is a dynamic enterprise which continuously strives for improvement in its psychometric methods, as well as its responsiveness to the needs of society at large.  from a psychometric point of view, several recent methodological advances have greatly improved the science of test development and the utility of test-based selection decisions or person- job matching. one such methodological advance is latent trait theory 4_ a precise mathematical statement about the relationship between test performance and the underlying abilities or aptitudes of the individual. although this particular mathematical theory has been known to measurement specialists for test-related problems, however, is a more recent development. other recent methodological advances include improved procedures for assessing the validity and utility of selection decisions in a person-job matching enterprise.  nambury s. raju
the soviet computer industry: a tale of two sectors  for the soviet economy in general, and the soviet computing community in particular, the last few years have been a period of unprecedented troubles and changes. the old, stable, centrally planned economic system has proven to be far more brittle than almost anyone expected; but attempts to build a market economy have fallen far short of many hopes and expectations. the net result to date is an economy in confusion and shambles (e.g., see [3, 6]).  s. e. goodman w. k. mchenry
legally speaking: first amendment rights for information providers?  applying the first amendment of the u.s. constitution to computerized communication of information is raising many interesting questions. while the general principle of this amendment can be simply stated---it forbids the government from interfering with freedom of speech---the specifies of its application over two centuries of american history have yielded a complex matrix of principles whose application depends on a variety of factors. where computerized communication of information fits into this schema has yet to be definitely determined. the last "legally speaking" column (mar. 1991) discussed some first amendment issues raised by treating computerized information as private property, theft of which might be criminally prosecutable. this column will discuss quite a different first amendment issue. but these two columns can only begin to introduce a few of the challenging first amendment issues presented by the "electronic frontier."  pamela samuelson
misconceptions in cis education  prior knowledge can interfere with new learning. this is due to different contextual uses for the same symbols. some preconceptions that can lead to misconceptions are the equal symbol (assign value vs compare) and the addition symbol (addition vs concatenation). computer mathematics has differences from algebraic mathematics.  a solution to these misconceptions is to develop mental models for these new conceptions. a stress on the new context and computer architecture will help show the differences between computer programming concepts and mathematical concepts.  garry white
how to create a successful failure  many people enjoy working on software projects that wing their way towards failure. after all, troubled projects offer so much more in the way of excitement and advantages than those that boringly plod their way to success. for instance, projects in turmoil provide numerous ways to look good. you can make both employer and customer deliriously happy, become a hero, and gain a promotion merely for getting something, anything, delivered on time---while on a smoothly running project, it's expected! even if you don't make the delivery, you can still appear heroic and get promoted. but if you screw things up, who knows? then there is the increased job security. projects in turmoil usually go on far past their original deadlines, as customers are loath to cancel and lose their investment. your company benefits too, as it gets paid much more than if the project was merely successful.  robert n. charette
the role of stakeholders' expectations in predicting information systems implementation outcomes  an integrative model of is implementation success is presented. the model focuses on stakeholders' expectations as predictors of is implementation outcomes, and on the organization's competence in designing and implementing the system.  the proposed framework is derived from the literature on is implementation, especially those studies that explain and/or predict the outcomes of such a process. the framework attempts to integrate the existing research streams: factor studies, process studies and expectancy studies. the model uses a multiperspective approach by taking into consideration stakeholders' different views of these processes.  aline f. de abreu david w. conrath
experience with an automatically assessed course this paper describes our experiences of developing and running an introductory module for first year computing undergraduates. the 'supporting technologies' module is intended to equip students with basic computing skills that they will need for the rest of their course. a novel feature of the work discussed here is that several different automated assessment tools and techniques are integrated into a common framework sharing a common results database. this allows a wide range of different assessment formats within the same module framework. john english phil siviter
computer science in secondary schools: curriculum and teacher certification  computer science in secondary schools is an area of increasing interest and concern to educators as well as to computer science professionals. each of the next two reports addresses an issue of major importance regarding computer science in secondary schools. the first report recommends computer science courses for the secondary school curriculum, and the second report recommends requirements for teacher certification in computer science.  in 1983 the acm education board initiated efforts to formulate recommendations for secondary school computer science. two task forces, one for curriculum recommendations and the other for teacher certification recommendations, were established under the education board's elementary and secondary schools subcommittee. the work of the two task forces was also supported by the ieee computer society educational activities board, and the final reports from the task forces were jointly approved by the acm and ieee-cs boards in july 1984. thus the reports are significan't not only for the important issues that they address, but also because they represent a joint activity between acm and the ieee computer society.  the work of the two task forces is summarized in the next two reports. the full reports are available as the publication computer science in secondary schools: curriculum and teacher certification, order number 201850, from the acm order department, p.o. box 64145, baltimore, md 21264.  a. j. turner
touring the c++ classroom project  this workshop will lead participants through the "c++ classroom project", a project designed to help faculty bring exciting applications into the introductory classroom. this project has created, class tested, and documented a number of c++ classes that enable students to: draw 2d graphics, populate excel worksheets and charts, control powerpoint presentations, and interact with talking/animated ms-agent characters. the classes are packaged with visual-c++ console applications in order to maintain a focus on learning standard c++ from a standard textbook. all system-dependent api's and nuances are "hidden" in the class internals for stepping over, or tracing into, as preference would have it! following a brief overview, participants will download the project files, step through the starter modules, and have the opportunity to write a few short exercises. a familiarity with c++, especially visual c++, is helpful but not imperative. feel free to join for the overview and/or the entire workshop.  mike otten
evaluating the output of recursive routines using successive queues  this paper shows a method of evaluating the results of recursive subprograms without using stacks, but using successive queues. in the sense used here, we start with a queue including just one item, namely the call to the recursive routine, using a suitable notation (usually compacted). the queue is then expanded one level into a new queue, using left-to-right evaluation, including a notation which shows which items are fully evaluated and which items yet need to be evaluated via calls back to the subprogram. the development of new queues stops when there are no more calls in the queue; in this case, what remains is the output desired, in left-to-right order. (sometimes the last queue contains operations which must be completed before the problem is solved.) one reviewer of this paper suggested an alternate title for this paper, which i'll reword as: "evaluating the output of a recursive routine using left-to right expansion rules based on the recursive routine." but i prefer my title, as it is simpler, though slightly restrictive for the general cases.
factors affecting professional competence of information technology professionals design and development of effective information technology (it) based systems depends upon a staff of competent information technology professionals (itps). due to the rapid pace of technological innovation, diverging application of it, and changing role responsibilities of itps, it is becoming increasingly difficult for itps to maintain up-to-date professional competency.although not extensively examined in it research, professional obsolescence threats have been acknowledged and evaluated in referent research. psychologists studying the engineering discipline have suggested individual characteristics, nature of work, and organizational climate as being important determinants of obsolescence.the purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationships between individual personality differences and manageable work context factors and the degree of professional competency, or conversely obsolescence of itps. structural equation modeling was employed in evaluating the direct-effects model of professional competency. the study used questionnaires to obtain 161 usable self-report responses from systems analysts. the results suggest that individual personality differences and factors of the work environment do effect professional competency levels. overall, the research model accounted for 44% of the variance in itp competency. j. ellis blanton thomas schambach kenneth j. trimmer
computer management studies for developing countries  this paper describes the postgraduate course in computer management studies given to students from developing countries at university college london. a brief historical introduction is followed by a discussion of the objectives and philosophy of the course; our experiences of the problems encountered by the students on the course, both before they arrive in london and while resident in london, are described. our proposals for an improved, but probably shorter, course are followed by syllabuses and statistics relating to participants.  gordon davies charles d. easteal
using animation of state space algorithms to overcome student learning difficulties  we describe an algorithm animation system for artificial intelligence search algorithms. we have identified a number learning difficulties experienced by students studying search algorithms and designed the animation system to help students to overcome these difficulties. as well as the usual single step mode for assistance in learning the individual steps of an algorithm, the system supports an innovative burst mode for visualising qualitative behaviour and facilitating comparisons between different algorithms and heuristic functions. the system has successfully been used in the classroom for 4 years and survey results indicate use of the system improves understanding. an empirical study comparing a group of 15 students using the animation system and 15 students who wrote programs for the algorithms revealed a generally similar level of understanding, however the animation group was better at dealing with questions about qualitative behaviour.  vic ciesielski peter mcdonald