waashk/acm huggingface dataset:
computerization of the campus coping with small computer systems (introductory remarks)  although the cover topic is computerization of the campus, the specific topic really is coping with small computers. i am not certain that coping with small computers really is a subset of computerization of the campus. unquestionably, we have all been computerizing our campuses, willy nilly and often without an overall plan, for the past five years. many of us have used mainframes, mini- mainframes, off-campus services, microcomputers and combinations and permutations of all of these.  drexel university, in addition to all of the above approaches has undertaken a massive computerization of its campus by mandating the acquisition of microcomputers by all freshmen in the 1983-84 academic year. the problems encountered are the same as with any large-scale academic undertaking: faculty involvement, money, logistics. at drexel, we have been fortunate in having an enthusiastic faculty, generous support from the pew memorial trust for faculty development, and a group of healthy, young administrators and staff members who have done yeoman service in getting the program moving physically. but of all of these, i would stress faculty support, faculty development, faculty participation. from the moment the decision was made to mandate microcomputers, the critical ingredient in the program's success was and is faculty involvement. the faculty defined academic needs, recommended the selection of the hardware, and has reviewed every proposal for curriculum development and integration of the microcomputer into existing courses.  bernard p. sagik
operation-based merging  existing approaches for merging the results of parallel development activities are limited. these approaches can be characterised as state-based: only the initial and final states are considered. this paper introduces operation-based merging, which uses the operations that were performed during development. in many cases operation- based merging has advantages over state-based merging, because it automatically respects the data-type invariants of the objects, is extensible for arbitrary object types, provides better conflict detection and allows for better support for solving these conflicts. several algorithms for conflict detection are described and compared.  ernst lippe norbert van oosterom
the dark side of computer operations: implementing user policies  computer centers today aren't like the computer centers in the good ol' days. back then, users came to the window and handed us their keypunched cards. the computer operator stacked them on top of a batch of other cards in the card stacker with a divider card, and we all patiently waited. a half a day later the user would come back to see if his cards had been batch processed yet. he asked the status of his job, the operator told him, and the user accepted his word for it. when the user finally did get his cards and printout, he was grateful and amazed at the all-powerful computer and at the cooperation of the computer operator. life was so simple.  the computer center of 1987 is altogether different. the computer is merely taken for granted, and the distressed operator takes abuse that defies description. what went wrong? when did the operator lose control of his little kingdom? why is it becoming increasingly difficult to implement policies?  in the old days, users accepted the operator's word for everything, mainly because they had no choice. today, nearly every user has his own terminal or microcomputer right on top of his desk. the user can easily monitor the operator's every move. the user is able to determine which jobs are waiting in which queue and how long they've been waiting. if the user is really alert, he can tell if a job has been waiting an unusually long time, and possibly if the operator is asleep at the wheel. and to add to the operator's grief, the user can take it one step further by "notifying" the delinquent operator via console messages that his work could stand improvement. in the time it takes the operator to respond to the irate user, the operator could have put the printer on line or repaired whatever damage was occurring without any prompting from the user. in an environment of 2000 plus users, responding to console remarks can be a full-time occupation.  and responses to users must be handled diplomatically. after all, the comments that are made are all right there in black and white---there is no denying the unintentional sarcastic overtones in the response. when life was more tranquil, it was simply our word against theirs.  phyllis griggs
a paradigm shift to oop has occurred…implementation to follow  this paper reflects on the discussions concerning the first year programming sequence that have transpired at the last few national symposiums in computer science education and at other computer education conferences in the past two years. both paper and birds-of-a-feather sessions suggest that computer science educators are deep into the transition from the procedural to object approach as the preferred basis for the design and implementation of software. this transition has become evident in the introductory textbooks, but it is more evident in the struggles of a faculty that has grown up with structured programming and now has to overcome that deeply entrenched mind- set. the author reflects on the characteristics of this struggle by comparing it to academic worldview struggles that have been termed "paradigm shifts." such struggles have been studied in other scientific disciplines and the pattern observed there is emphasized in the author's interpretation of recent events in computer science education.  william mitchell
using the cloze procedure with computer programs: a deeper look  this paper extends research on the use of the cloze test in the domain of computer software. in this study the cloze blanks were divided for the purposes of analysis into five structural subcategories. the relationships of the total cloze score and the subcategory scores to two criterion test measures were found to be positive, with the strongest and most consistent relationships being found for the variable subcategory. use of the cloze test for both instructional and assessment purposes was discussed.  eileen b. entin
workplace impacts - ai and automation: privacy and accountability of large- scale high-capacity personal data systems  this session will focus on the problems for information policy in a democracy raised by new fifth generation computer technology. panelists will discuss the theoretical role of information technology in a democracy and the special problems of accountability and privacy. the possibility of new regulation and legislation will be discussed, as well as the development of new techniques by the executive branch such as matching and data bases.  leslie gasser kenneth laudon
user services in a semi-autonomous, decentralized computing environment  this paper presents some observations and impressions gained through attempting to define the needs of, and provide assistance to, microcomputer users at msu over the past two years. consideration is given to technical and non-technical factors that result in similarities, but that also raise unique problems and opportunities, when compared to traditional, centralized computing. the author concludes that the need for user services will continue, if not become more acute, in the foreseeable future, in an increasingly autonomous and decentralized computing environment; the most effective way to meet these needs is with an educational program aimed at fostering self- sufficiency and cooperation among the users themselves, and with temporary, on-site assistance that involves users in developing perspective on both their computing needs and the responsibility they must assume if they are to supply their own computing power.  bill brown
a new emphasis & pedagogy for a cs1 course a cs1 course introduces students to fundamental aspects of computing science. invariably, these aspects are ones of content (subject matter). there is an alternative, and arguably more beneficial, role for a cs1 course - it could introduce the fundamental _processes_ and _concepts_ which pervade _all_ computing science content domains, and which have but different instantiations in the different domains. this article considers the identification of these aspects, and suggests a pedagogy suitable for their emphasis. this pedagogy is applied to a traditional cs1 programming-content domain, resulting in a proposal for a new cs1 curriculum. m. d. evans
impact of organizational maturity on user satisfaction with information systems  user satisfaction has increasingly played an important role in information systems (is) organizations' effectiveness. does an is organization's ability to design and develop increasingly effective systems depend on its maturity? does maturity depend on bringing in state-of-the-art technology? is maturity related to the organizational structure of the data processing/management information systems (dp/mis) unit? is maturity related to spending increasing amounts of money on is organizations? the importance of these questions and their answers to dp/mis managers and users cannot be overemphasized. the research uses a field study of is users and managers to answer these questions and other related issues. the study shows a weak but significant overall relationship between user satisfaction variables and maturity criteria defined by nolan [25]. further research based on the findings of the study is suggested as a means of improving the degree of relationship between maturity criteria and user satisfaction variables.  mo a mahmood jack d becker
sources of government funding for college and universities  the panel is composed of representatives of a number of federal agencies that provide research support for colleges and universities. each panelist will present a short overview of the research support provided by their agencies. this will be followed by a general decision of funding opportunities for computer science research in colleges and universities. the participants are donald m. austin, department of energy; bruce h. barnes, national science foundation; timothy d. evans, army research office; robert b. grafton, office of naval research; ronald l. larson, national aeronautics and space agency; and john p. thomas, air force office of scientific research.
end-user participation and the evolution of organizational information systems: an empirical assessment of nolan's stage model  nolan's stage hypothesis on the growth of data processing provides a popular framework for describing the typical development patterns of organizational information systems. up until now, a few limited tests have been published to ensure formally the reliability of the stage model. we report on an empirical study of 130 major finnish edp user organizations where the aim was to test the power of nolan's stage model. several of nolan's benchmarks were used as measures of the stage of development but special attention was given to the role of end-users in systems development. not only were the actual stages of development measured but also estimates of the future changes in the major benchmarks were compared for typical groups of organizations.  our tests show that there are significant differences both in the stage and speed of development between organizations even with the same experience in computing. we have been able to assure that nolan's model is a good descriptor of the average patterns of changes in data processing but it is not able to predict the development. the nolan model seems to be confined within the limits of its own historical background.  markku saaksjarvi
is north american is research different from european is research? diversity, whether in terms of research methodologies or reference disciplines, enriches and benefits a field of research. if, on the other hand, this diversity inhibits the sharing of research and knowledge between communities with different intellectual heritages, loss of synergy and research opportunities for both communities may result. this study identifies similarities and differences between north american and european research in terms of theoretical bases and research methodologies by analyzing doctoral dissertation research. results show that european mis research is predominantly qualitative and non-empirical conceptual whereas north american mis research is predominantly quantitative and empirical. furthermore, research in europe is influenced considerably by computer science and artificial intelligence whereas research in north america has more behavioral and managerial roots. a comparison across a five-year period shows that this gap is narrowing. j. roberto evaristo elena karahanna
job turnover among mis professionals: an exploratory study of employee turnover  the paper addresses the issue of it worker turnover. it reports on a survey it workers who graduated over the past decade (1990-1999) from saint louis university. research questions target it worker demographics, such as age and gender and job satisfaction, salary, job tasks, and opportunity factors for both prior and current employment. results included ranking of different factors comprising job satisfaction (satisfaction with financial compensation was high and with fringe benefits was low), observation of significant differences between several satisfaction measures but no task measures between prior and current job, and observation of few correlations between specific tasks performed and salary levels.  fred niederman mary r. sumner
development and use of an assembler in computer systems courses  assembly language programming provides students the ability to manipulate bits and bytes inside a computer. but how do they know that the effect of their assembly language program is the same as what they have expected? if there is a way to `see' the bits and bytes after execution of their programs, they will understand more about that computer and its instructions. therefore a simulator and an assembler for a basic computer, designed in computer system architecture (3rd edition) by m. morris mano [1], was developed and used in our computer systems course. the background information about the basic computer, development of the simulator and the assembler, our experience in using them in our course, and benefits gained from using them are discussed.  soe than
test construction and administration strategies for large introductory courses  large introductory courses in computer science make test construction and administration a particularly difficult problem for the instructor. multiple- choice computer-graded tests can be used to alleviate this problem by testing not only in the knowledge areas of history, hardware, software and applications but in the area of programming skills as well. several illustrations of the type of multiple-choice question that can be used to test the skills of 1) reading a flowchart 2) reading a program 3) converting a flowchart to a program and 4) writing a program are given and are discussed in terms of their effectiveness. practical issues of test administration such as the pre-plan, open vs closed-book, cheating and grading are also discussed. the paper attempts to mildly formalize a shadowy area of computer science that has heretofore existed primarily as folklore and hearsay.  stewart a. denenberg
the effect of high school computer science, gender, and work on success in college computer science  researchers have often linked factors such as mathematics ability and overall academic achievement to success in computer science. in this study, a group of students with common mathematics backgrounds was examined to determine if some other new factors were also involved in success in computer science. in particular, the roles of prior computing experience, work, and sex are discussed. a composite picture of the typical successful student is drawn and the implications for computer science departments are identified.  harriet g. taylor luegina c. mounfield
accommodating disparities in secondary school backgrounds in the university environment  exposure to computers in high school has become a widespread phenomenon, with several schools actually offering an integrated computer curriculum throughout grades k-12. because of the urgency of needs and the quickness with which these programs are implemented, as well as the lack of a well-tried standard to follow, the students coming out of these programs have every manner of experience. the resulting differences in the background of entering university students has created a need for an enriched introductory course. however, assessing the preparedness of students for such a course presents its own difficulties. this paper describes a placement test being used at the university of new brunswick to evaluate the knowledge of incoming students to determine those who have been adequately prepared for an enriched course. the placement test, including an initial analysis of the placement test as a predictor, is discussed.  jane m. fritz
lmds/lmcs hub interconnection alternatives and multiple access issues  lmds/lmcs is a broadband wireless local loop, millimeter - wave alternative to emerging integrated multiservice access networks. significantly large amounts of bandwidth -- in the order of one ghz of spectrum -- are made available to residential subscribers or supported business users respectively that employ highly directional antennas and signal polarization to establish communication with a central hub. besides the requirement for dynamic bandwidth allocation capabilities, these networks should be able to guarantee negotiated quality of service qos levels to a number of constant - length atm \-- and possibly variable length tcp/ip -- packet streams. in this context, we analyze the performance of contention, polling/probing and piggybacking mechanisms that will be used by the lmds mac protocol for the dynamic support of both real - time and non - real - time traffic streams. more specifically, we focus on the end - to - end performance of a real - time variable bit rate connection for which the lmds link is only the access component of a multi - link path through an atm network. results are presented on maximum end - to - end cell delays under a weighted round robin service discipline and buffer requirements are calculated for no - loss conditions. in parallel, we also consider the case in which variable length ip packet traffic is supported as such by the same wireless access network. backbone interconnection alternatives of lmds hubs, multiple access proposals and scheduling algorithms are addressed in this framework.  g. m. stamatelos v. n. koukoulidis
evaluating software engineering methods and tool part 5: the influence of human factors in previous articles, we have considered a number of general issues concerned with evaluating methods and tools. in the next few articles we describe how to perform a specific type of evaluation exercise called feature analysis.this article discusses the principles of feature analysis and describes how to identify features and establish a means of scoring products against those features. later articles consider how to plan a feature-based evaluation and how to analyze the results of an evaluation. barbara ann kitchenham lindsay jones
a model high school computer lab(special session)  the george washington high school has received many awards for its ecumenical approach to affording students a computer experience. the computer curriculum and laboratory treat the whole spectrum of student abilities and subject areas, including not only mathematics and business but also other areas such as english, art and music, as well as the educationally underprivileged. the curriculum includes 16 formal classes, and the laboratory currently contains 36 computers.  the development and organization of the computer laboratory and curriculum will be presented. a brief demonstration of software to teach english to students speaking spanish, laosian, hmong, and vietnamese.  irwin j. hoffman
evaluating academic computing on campus and developing a 5-year plan  a comprehensive study of academic computing at baruch college was recently completed. the purpose of the study was to draw a baseline picture of current computing resources and needs, and to propose a five year development plan in order to improve academic computing for students, faculty, and staff. the impetus for this study was preparation for the middle states self study accreditation to take place in fall 1989. one of the requirements of the accreditation is a critical self evaluation of the state of academic on campus.  the focus of this paper is the process by which the study was conducted. part 1, describes the study process. part 2 outlines the major impediments to computing and recommendations for the future of academic computing at baruch, and part 3 discusses the impact of the study on the college.  s. l. prupis
information resource management(irm): theory applied to three environments  the information resource management (irm) concept will be defined with reference to available resources written on the topic. the major business related information systems curricula projects by association for computing machinery (acm) and data processing management association (dpma) will be shown with their respective philosophy around the resource management area. the professional society which has emerged from the resource management area will also be described. discussion will be initiated on the relevance to the business curriculum of irm with details on how implementations of concepts have been done on both the graduate and undergraduate levels. a specific example of irm training will be presented with an overview of how the material is applied in other educational settings.  john f schrage john m blair forest woody horton boulton b miller
a proposal for integrated software engineering education this paper describes a proposal to strengthen the coverage of software engineering within the undergraduate cs curriculum by integrating coverage of software tools, methodologies, and practices into core courses and by providing appropriate resources for instructors. the goal of the proposal is to improve technical readiness of cs graduates for the 21st-century software development workforce by providing an exposure throughout the cs curriculum to modern project management practices and tools, and by developing in students skills necessary to participate in software development projects. ralph f. grove
a data processing communication skills course  to be a successful business data processing professional, one should possess effective written and oral communication skills; therefore, any program which prepares computing students for the business world should effectively train them in this area. of the programs that attempt to handle this situation, most merely require their students to take several english/communication courses. from experience, this method is less effective than additionally reinforcing the students' communication skills within the entire range of the computing curriculum. this paper presents a methodology for accomplishing the task of implementing writing into an introductory data processing course.  alka rani harriger thomas i. ho
wealth and jobs in the fifth new world  automation in the 1950's sparked predictions of massive unemployment, and similar gloomy forecasts have been voiced many times since then. although "detroit automation" (transfer lines) did increase productivity and contribute to a decline in manufacturing employment, expansion of job opportunities in the service and information sectors more than compensated for that loss. moreover, the rapid diffusion of computer applications has been accompanied by the creation of new kinds of jobs.  with the advent of microelectronics and, more recently, intelligent systems in the marketplace, the specter of unemployment looms large once again. however, many observers are reluctant to predict widespread unemployment for fear of emulating the little boy who cried wolf.  abbe mowshowitz