waashk/acm huggingface dataset:
command-line usage in a programming exam introductory computer science education has a strong emphasis on the teaching and learning of programming skills. in establishing that a desired level of proficiency in the use of these skills has been attained, many courses implement a practical exam where students must complete a program and get it to run correctly under supervision and unaided. this exam may, as in our case, be presented as a "barrier" exam which must be passed in order to proceed to intermediate computer science enrolment. the importance of such an event is not always matched by our understanding (as educators) of student behaviour under such conditions. the binary (pass/fail) nature of the exam tends to be reflected in student perceptions of the exam, often polarised as being "quite easy" by those who pass or "too difficult" by those who fail. this paper describes an exploration into command-line behaviour during the exam, in an attempt to gain some insight into student behavioural reaction to it. in so doing, the issue is raised as to whether or not certain actions are more likely to serve as indicators of a successful candidate, and what meaning this has for teachers and students. tony greening
the role of mathematics in the computer science curriculum  there has been much debate in the past few years about the appropriate mathematics requirements for an undergraduate computer science major. the discussion has focused primarily on two issues: (1) the underlying mathematical content of computer science courses and (2) the content of mathematics courses which would serve as appropriate cognate requirements for computer science major programs. while this discussion has been helpful, it has been too narrowly focused--it has not started from an understanding of the relationship between the disciplines of mathematics and computer science, but rather has sought to identify mathematical prerequisites that computer science majors need in order to take existing computer science courses. this paper is a small step in seeking to apply an understanding of the relationship between the disciplines of mathematics and computer science to the undergraduate computer science curriculum.  james bradley
combining management and technology in a master's degree for information system professionals  by the early to middle 1970's it was clear that education in computer science and related fields was failing to meet many of the needs of business and industry. in self-defense, many firms adopted the practice of hiring phd's to lead programming projects (on the grounds that the phd's were bright). other firms chose to hire bright bachelors, most of whom had little or no formal training in programming or software engineering (on the grounds that bright people could learn on the job).  a side effect of these practices was that most of the phd's were being siphoned off into industry and were thus unavailable to staff the rapidly growing computer science departments in higher education. at the same time, bright computer science bachelors were enticed directly into industry by high salaries, and thus did not pursue advanced degrees. these factors were no doubt part of the reason for the severe shortage of computer scientists available to higher education.  thomas e. kurtz a. kent morton
brain tumour development in rats exposed to electromagnetic fields used in wireless cellular communication  it has been suggested that electromagnetic fields (emf) act as promoters late in the carcinogenesis process. to date, however, there is no convincing laboratory evidence that emfs cause tumour promotion at non-thermal exposure levels. therefore the effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields were investigated in a rat brain glioma model. some of the exposures correspond to electromagnetic fields used in wireless communication. microwaves at 915 mhz were used both as continuous waves (1 w), and pulse-modulated at 4, 8, 16 and 217 hz in 0.57 ms pulses and 50 hz in 6.67 ms pulses (2 w per pulse). fischer 344 rats of both sexes were used in the experiments. by stereotaxic technique rat glioma cells (rg2 and n32) were injected into the head of the right caudate nucleus in 154 pairs of rats, exposed and matched controls. starting on day 5 after inoculation, the animals were exposed for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week during 2--3 weeks. exposed animals were kept unanaesthetized in well- ventilated tem cells producing 915 mhz continuous or modulated microwaves. their matched controls were kept in identical tem cells without emf exposure. all brains were examined histopathologically and the tumour size was estimated as the volume of an ellipsoid. our study of 154 matched pairs of rats does not show any significant difference in tumour size between animals exposed to 915 mhz, and those not exposed. thus our results do not support that even an extensive daily exposure to emf promotes tumour growth when given from the fifth day after the start of tumour growth in the rat brain until the sacrifice of the animal after about 16 days.  leif g. salford arne brun bertil r. r. persson
the art and science of user services  we are all familiar with the great advances made over the years in all areas of science and technology resulting from the application of well known laws and principles. among such laws are the laws of conservation of energy and mass, the laws of thermodynamics, and newton's laws of motion.  we are frequently overwhelmed by the changes confronting us daily in our user services work. we experience changes in hardware, software, organizational structure, management, personnel, user education, consulting, documentation and physical facilities. the discipline of physics takes the whole universe of ubiquitous changes in stride and integrates them into unifying principles. in the midst of an ever-changing world, physics presupposes a constancy of nature, i.e. that identical conditions give identical results; that cause and effect relationships can be determined and applied to observed phenomena.  this paper will be a light-hearted trip in analogous thinking into a different perspective of the many changes we experience in our profession.  i shall explore how we might be able to use these classical laws of physics to ease our burden of coping with the changes we encounter daily. if our activities do obey these laws in a predictable and sensible fashion, then we can use these principles to help us. for example, the fundamental law of the conservation of energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. from this law we can deduce that for a given level of user services personnel staffing, a maximum amount of work (energy) can be accomplished over a given period of time. hence, priorities are set, either implicitly or explicitly. by clearly seeing the situation, realistic goals and expectations are possible. perhaps such phenomena as staff personnel burnout and high turnover rates might be diminished by seriously applying such techniques.  robert k. shaffer
determinants of program repair maintenance requirements  considerable resources are devoted to the maintenance of programs including that required to correct errors not discovered until after the programs are delivered to the user. a number of factors are believed to affect the occurrence of these errors, e.g., the complexity of the programs, the intensity with which programs are used, and the programming style. several hundred programs making up a manufacturing support system are analyzed to study the relationships between the number of delivered errors and measures of the programs' size and complexity (particularly as measured by software science metrics), frequency of use, and age. not surprisingly, program size is found to be the best predictor of repair maintenance requirements. repair maintenance is more highly correlated with the number of lines of source code in the program than it is to software science metrics, which is surprising in light of previously reported results. actual error rate is found to be much higher than that which would be predicted from program characteristics.  lee l. gremillion
the impact and issues of the fifth generation: ethical issues in new computing technologies  the spread of computer applications throughout american society is a form of social action, not simply a "scientific" laboratory exercise. like all social actions which effect the well-being of people, different approaches to computerization entail ethical judgements, however implicit. this session examines some ethical issues which are especially pertinent in the mobilization, development, and diffusion of new generation computing technologies.  rob kling terry winograd paul smolensky roland schinzinger
the role and responsibility of the consultant  this paper examines the interaction that occurs between the computer consultant and his or her client, factors that affect that interaction, the role of the consultant in the research university, the consultant's personal responsibility in the interaction and ways to create change. the paper utilizes the method of institutional ethnography suggested by dorothy smith: place the consultant- client interaction within the organization of the research university.  the paper describes how the consulting process works beginning from personal experiences of consultant and client and then places the interaction in the larger context of the university, academic training and research practices. the routinization of research separates it into many functions performed by people who may not understand the intended use of the research. the consultant performs two pieces of the research function --- training clients to use the computer and helping them deal with any problems. in the course of our work, we as consultants encounter contradictions in the university system that create our individual feelings of inadequacy and burnout. we also may find it difficult to accept our personal responsibility for the uses made of the research in which we participate. understanding our work and its place in the university is the first step toward creating change. this understanding can be increased by breaking our isolation and talking to each other about problems we encounter as consultants, by examining the ideology we participate in creating and by integrating our professional expertise with our desire to assist our clients. we need not blame ourselves for the shortcomings of the system. changing the way we think about our world and our work is a way of changing our world and our work.  eileen driscoll
critical success factors for is executive careers - evidence from case studies this article qualitatively analyzes the critical success factors (csfs) for information systems (is) executive careers based on evidence gathered from five case studies carried out in 1997. typical is executive career paths are presented within a time series style and the csfs are interpreted within a descriptive framework by synthesising the case data based on social cognitive theory. the descriptive framework suggests that successful is executive careers would most likely be achieved by well educated and experienced is employees who have the right attitude towards both their career and work, together with good performance. they would also exhibit an ability for self- learning and to anticipate future it uses, as well as having proficient is management knowledge and skills while working with an appropriate organizational environment. moreover, the framework systematically indicates the interactions between the coupling factors in the typical career development processes. this provides a benchmark for employees that are aiming at a senior is executive career against which they can compare their own achievements and aspirations. it also raises propositions for further research on theory building. nansi shi david bennett
progress report: brown university instructional computing laboratory  an instructional computing laboratory, consisting of about 60 high- performance, graphics-based personal workstations connected by a high- bandwidth, resource-sharing local area network, has recently become operational at brown university. this hardware, coupled with an innovative courseware/software environment, is being used in the classroom in an attempt to radically improve the state of the art of computer science pedagogy. this paper describes the current state of the project. the hardware and courseware/software environments are described and their use illustrated with detailed descriptions, including sample screen images. some comments are included on our initial reactions to our experience to date with the environment and on our future plans.  marc h. brown robert sedgewick
an is1 workbench for acm information system curriculum '81  this paper describes the system architects' workbench, a personal computer- based teaching environment for courses in computer organization and systems programming. this tool set provides an integrated learning and teaching environment for computer systems concepts defined in acm is curriculum '81 is1. the central tool is a computer simulator based on a pedagogical model of computer system resources which allows students to study principles without becoming too involved in the implementation idiosyncrasies usually associated with machine level programming. programs may be written directly in machine language or in a pascal-like language, tp, which includes features that allow complete access to and control of host level resources. the tp compiler supports separate compilation, ipl load module generation, and detailed translation output used for machine language modification and debugging. the simulator supports interactive execution, tracing, modification, and debugging.  leslie j. waguespack
teaching computer architecture with a new superscalar processor emulator current computers use several techniques to improve performance such as cache memories, pipeline and multiple instruction issue per cycle. using a real computer to teach these concepts is actually impractical, because these computers are designed to be programmed in high-level languages.in order to solve this problem, we have implemented a superscalar processor emulator, where most of the processor and cache parameters can be defined by the student. its objective is to create a set of laboratory works allowing the student to observe how the different components of the computer evolve while executing an assembler program. it allows detection of the different kinds of cache misses and hazards as well as their impact on performance. then, the student can apply some software techniques to reduce cache misses and to avoid hazards. santiago rodríguez de la fuente m. isabel garcía clemente rafael mendez cavanillas
a social implications of computing course which "teaches" computer ethics  computers are integral to today's world, forming our society as well as responding to it. in recognition of this interaction, as well as in response to requirements by the computer science accrediting board (csab), many schools are incorporating computer ethics and values and addressing the social implications of computing within their curriculum. the approach discussed here is through a separate course, rather than relying on the integration of specific topics throughout the curriculum.  sylvia clark pulliam
computer science for secondary schools: course content  computers and computing are topics of discussion in many curriculum areas in secondary school. the four courses recommended by this task group, however, have computing as their primary content. the courses are:  1) introduction to computer science i (a full year course)  2) introduction to computer science ii (a full year course)  3) introduction to a high-level computer language (a half-year course)  4) applications and implications of computers (a half-year course)  courses 1 and 2 are designed for students with a serious interest in computer science. course 1 can serve as a single introductory course for some students and also act as a prerequisite for course 2. at the end of two years of study, students should be prepared to be placed in second level computer science classes in post-secondary educational institutions or to take the advanced placement exam available through the college entrance exam board.  jean b. rogers
technological frames: making sense of information technology in organizations  in this article, we build on and extend research into the cognitions and values of users and designers by proposing a systematic approach for examining the underlying assumptions, expectations, and knowledge that people have about technology. such interpretations of technology (which we call technological frames) are central to understanding technological development, use, and change in organizations. we suggest that where the technological frames of key groups in organizations---such as managers, technologists, and users--- are significantly different, difficulties and conflict around the development, use, and change of technology may result. we use the findings of an empirical study to illustrate how the nature, value, and use of a groupware technology were interpreted by various organizational stakeholders, resulting in outcomes that deviated from those expected. we argue that technological frames offer an interesting and useful analytic perspective for explaining an anticipating actions and meanings that are not easily obtained with other theoretical lenses.  wanda j. orlikowski debra c. gash
integrating "depth first" and "breadth first" models of computing curricula  traditional undergraduate computer science curricula have been increasingly challenged on a host of grounds: undergraduate computing education is attracting fewer majors, is not producing graduates who satisfy the needs of either graduate programs or business and industry, and is not effectively responding to the increasing needs for computing education among the larger student population. in the face of such challenges, there has been a recent movement to restructure undergraduate computing curricula.  at georgia tech we have design (ay 91-92) and implemented (ay92-93) a new computing curriculum that features a radical restructuring of subject matter. during the design and implementation process, we paid close and critical attention to the particulars of both the acm recommendations and reports from our colleagues at other institutions who had already gained some experience with "breadth first" approaches. we have conclude that curriculum modernization should integrate key aspects of both "depth first" and "breadth first" approaches. our new curriculum is an example of such integration. we present data (measures of student performance and of student and faculty opinion) that confirm that our approach is viable, and we now believe that it can be a useful model for others. in this paper, we outline the structure of our integrated curriculum and report on key facets of our experience with it.  russell l. shackelford richard j. leblanc
using metrics to detect plagiarism (student paper)  plagiarism in programming courses calls for a need for professors to be able to correctly identify occurrences of plagiarism in order to safeguard the educational process. however, detecting plagiarism is a long and tedious ordeal because of the fine line between allowable peer-peer collaboration and plagiarism. in this paper we present a metrics-based tool which aids in the process of detecting plagiarizers by monitoring the similarities between programs.  shauna d. stephens
professional education for secondary computer science (abstract only)  as states are now beginning to certify secondary teachers in computer science for secondary education, it is time to consider how many (if any), and what kind, professional education courses a prospective teacher should take. the courses under consideration here primarily are the ones known as "methods" courses; that is, how to teach the subject. we have insufficient data to make a clear judgement at this time, but there appears to be a dismal record, especially for smaller schools, for these courses involving the sciences and mathematics. such courses as educational psychology are invaluable, but a methods course taught to computer science students by instructors who neither like nor understand computers or (computer science) cannot be a happy situation. we already have had this happen to the mathematics and science teachers --- more than one has been told that such subjects as algorithms, algebra, or trigonometry are not proper subjects for discussion. can only subjects be considered for discussion which are outside the realm of science and technology?  i do not argue that students should not have a single course in the teaching of computer science, but i do strongly argue (unfortunately, having found too many bad examples of what is taking place) that this course should be taught by the department of computer science, i wonder how many prospective mathematics and science teachers we have lost because of a lack of understanding by the professional educators of the subject matter, or them being unable to relate to these students. do we wish to perpetuate the same problems for computer science?  kathleen pearson
a chart representation for delineating computer disciplines (abstract)  colleges and universities in the united states that teach some form of computer curriculum are many. from the small community college to the major university most offer some type of sequence of computer course. unfortunately, the computer programs offered by two different schools may be vastly different  several "names" for the computer disciplines have emerged: computer science, computer theory, computer engineering, information sciences, information systems, and data processing to name the more common ones. a faculty member with a doctorate in computer science might feel uncomfort-able working in an information systems department. likewise, a student wishing to study in the area of information systems would feel ill-at-ease taking courses in a computer engineering department. many job-seeking faculty and school-seeking students ask of a department: "what kind of courses do you offer?" "where does your emphasis lie?" the answers to questions like these are obtained after lengthy discussions with school advisors, faculty interviewing, or digging through college catalogs.  what would be helpful is a system which clearly illustrates the courses offered by a department. if this were in chart form where the courses progressed from computer theory to data processing, one could see at a glance the emphasis of a particular school's discipline. by comparing a department's chart with a faculty member's chart, one can easily and quickly see background differences and similarities, saving time and energy.  curt m. white
integrating interactive computer-based learning experiences into established curricula: a case study educators who wish to integrate interactive computer- based learning experiences into established courses must contend not only with the difficulty of creating quality digital content but with the often equally difficult challenge of reconfiguring their courses to use such materials. we describe our experiences with the exploratories project at brown university [8] and the use of exploratories in an introductory computer graphics programming course [4]. we offer examples of both success and failure, with the goal of helping other educators avoid both painful mistakes and lost time spent coping with unforeseen logistical and pedagogical concerns. among the lessons we learned: planning can't begin too early for the integration of such materials into an established curriculum, and all possible methods of integration should be considered before committing to any specific approach. anne morgan spalter rosemary michelle simpson