waashk/acm huggingface dataset:
changing expectations of our users  with a changing user audience, how will expectations change?  • users will know what computers can do and will indeed expect service, not just "hope" for service.  • users will expect all services 24 hours each day, seven days a week.  • users will expect us to come to them, any time of day or night.  • users will expect personalized, prescriptive service, tailored to their individual needs.  • users will expect infinite variety.  • users will expect access to services anywhere, from anywhere.  • users will expect near-total transparency.  • users will expect user control of all aspects of service---or, at the very least, the illusion of user control.  • users will expect service to be provided in modular, interchangeable units.  • users will expect reduced costs.  • users will expect bigger and better from us, and smaller and better.  • users will expect service that is user-friendly according to the user's personal definition.  • users will expect on-line, off- line, hands-on, and human service on a demand basis, no waiting.  • users will expect a "matchmaking" service that puts them in touch with others of similar interests.  in short, users in the coming decade will continue to expect the impossible. and user services personnel will continue to labor to give them the impossible.  rita seplowitz saltz
development of an entry level computer applications course in a small liberal arts college (abstract only)  students entering colleges typically have a very wide range of problem-solving abilities. these students also have a broad range of experiences in programming, although this second range may be somewhat more narrow. some students have weak problem-solving skills and have done virtually no programming while other students with better problem-solving skills may have programmed in one of several languages. such diversity has considerable impact upon first courses in computer science in colleges. this talk will discuss several combinations of credit and non-credit courses and workshops which can be helpful in meeting the needs of incoming students. for each approach, various advantages and disadvantages will be identified.  m. ware h. doerr r. pierce m. bielby a. zipp a. tiburzi
entity-relationship diagrams and english: an analysis of some problems encountered in a database design course  the simplicity and clarity of the entity-relationship approach recommends its use as a tool for teaching database design. nonetheless, the approach does not appear to be problem-free. analysis of student entity-relationship diagrams for two database design projects reveals a tendency students have to model english sentences and to use english syntax to guide the modeling process. the paper discusses why this may be the case, and how it may be avoided.  judith d. wilson
organizing web site information: principles and practical experience as web sites continue to grow in their complexity, one of the most important usability design decisions is how to structure the web site topic hierarchy. this decision lays the groundwork for designing other aspects of the site, e.g., the home page table of contents, and for categorizing new documents in the topic structure over the life of the site. organizing web sites is a timely topic as evidenced by the recent spate of publications on this topic [1] [2] [3] and by nist's recent release of a tool, webcat, to help users participate in organizing their web site. more significantly, the organization is probably the limiting factor on success for web sites that provide useful information.if anything is clear about the organization of web sites, it is that there is no single best way to go about it. different types of web sites seem to demand different approaches to organization. for example, a site geared toward product support might use a task-oriented scheme that steps users through a process of problem-solving. other sites, such as an online shopping site, might be organized according to categories of products, in order to allow efficient browsing. other sites might be organized based on an analysis of user roles.designers who must choose among these schemes must also choose appropriate analyses to inform the design of the web site structure. these include item clustering techniques, user performance at finding documents using various prototype web site organizations, studies of user roles and tasks, and analyses of the material to be included in the site. kate dobroth paul mcinerney sharon smith
from under the rubble: computing and the resuscitation of romania  how does an entire country return to life?  the dictatorship of nicolae and elena ceaucescu turned romania into a political, social and economic wasteland that was vividly pictured in the world media after the overthrow of the stalinist couple in december 1989. their regime left the country in shambles: with an old or mangled physical plant, a currency worthless abroad and nearly worthless at home, a legacy of secret police abuses, terrible health and sanitary conditions, and a highly centralized, warped, and inefficient scientific and industrial infrastructure.  seymour e. goodman
mass market computer for software development  the mass market or applicance computer has become a plausible alternative to workstations for software development. while it is easy to use for software development, a different style of development emerges. by being truly personal, the mass market computer provides a focus for all the professional activities of a developer. the primary form of software used on such computers is shrink- wrapped software; this has profound implicatioons on how the software is used and the make-or-buy trade-off takes on an entirely new meaning. this paper describes the advantages of mass market computers. as an example, the paper presents how an environment, consisting of a network of mass market computers,m has influenced the development of a novel source management scheme.  w. morven gentleman marceli wein
it programs and cs departments (panel session)  computer science departments are experiencing increases in enrollments that rival the expansion in the early '80s. at the same time, many of these students do not seem interested in or equipped to handle the rigor of a traditional computer science program. they are coming into computer science with expectations about computer science education that are significantly different from what they are finding on campus. instead of courses on data structures and algorithms, automata, and operating systems, they want to learn visual basic, linux, and obtain microsoft certification.  cs departments responses to these pressures differ widely. some take the approach that this is a temporary aberration and should have no affect whatsoever on degree programs in computer science. some provide one-credit courses or seminars to discuss practical aspects of it not covered in the curriculum. others have started information technology programs to provide these students with an alternative program. in some cases, outside pressures (i.e., the university administration or external funding) has mandated that cs departments provide such programs.  this panel will discuss these issues from varying perspectives. it will also provide some examples of it programs in cs departments to give us some idea of what is currently being done at other institutions.  elliot koffman dorothy deremer chris mcdonald loren rhodes rebecca thomas a. joe turner curt white
a new perspective on teaching computer literacy  the first step in designing a college level computer literacy course is to define what is meant by computer literacy. unfortunately no consensus exists as to what the label "computer literate" should imply. the difficulty in both defining computer literacy and designing a satisfactory computer literacy course is evident by both the frequency of change and experimentation occurring at many institutions and by the forests of textbooks that exist for such a course. in this paper we present a definition of computer literacy that is independent of any specific application or application genre and introduce the notion of application literacy as distinct from that of computer literacy. finally we describe a course implementation strategy commensurate with our philosophy.  michael goldweber john barr chuck leska
simulation of the computer science curriculum at southeastern louisiana university (abstract only)  to obtain a better estimate of course offerings required to run a four year curriculum in computer science, ten years of student flow was simulated. the simulation was based on the computer science curriculum at southeastern and its student's progression as of fall, 1984\. mentioned topics will include (1) model construction (2) model validation (3) balancing of course loads (4) impact of curriculum changes, and (5) recommendations.  david haas
a peer review experience  the following statements are taken from a brochure prepared by the acm sigucc peer review committee to acquaint university computer centers with peer review.  peer review is a review of policies, procedures, and services provided in a specific college or university computing center. the goal of a peer review is to determine the strengths and weaknesses of an installation. the sigucc peer review committee maintains a list of valid peer reviewers, people actively involved in the delivery of computer services within an academic environment. working in cooperation with the host computing center (the center requesting the review) peer reviewers acting as a group; study documents prepared by the host center, interview appropriate individuals at the center, and observe all facets of the operation. based on the information provided, the interviews, and the observations, the group prepares a report and gives it to the director.  m. lloyd edwards
nerd work: attractors and barriers perceived by students entering the it field  the purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that attract as well as discourage students who display an initial interest in it careers. factors influencing students one way or the other may include media images of it, role models, gender, and age. the study proposes to investigate these factors by focusing on the first programming course that is standard in many it curricula. demographic factors of students who enroll and either withdraw, pass, or fail the course will be analyzed, and then the same students will be surveyed to examine in greater depth their perceptions, both negative and positive, about it careers and it professionals. the results will provide educators and practitioners with information about myths that students hold that need to be dispelled, as well as the possible need to convey more realistic perspectives on the breadth and variety of it jobs. identification of these factors can help in recruiting as well as retaining a greater number of qualified students and ultimately increasing the supply of qualified it workers.  martha e. myers catherine m. beise
a faculty development program  the computer and information science (cis) department at brooklyn college is unable to use full-time cis faculty for most sections of the introductory programming course. instead of using adjuncts, the administration of the college would like to use full-time faculty from overstaffed departments to teach these courses. in an attempt to certify these people, the cis department launched a two part faculty development program in the summer of 1981. program i was an intensive introduction to computing for those with no previous experience. program ii was designed to enable those with some previous computing experience to teach computer programming. both programs were successful. the participants in program i gained quite a bit of programming experience. almost half of those in program ii have taught in the cis department in the fall of 1981, with others planning to do so next year. based in part on the information gathered from this model, the entire city university is offering a faculty development program in computer science as well.  keith harrow
the career dynamics of information systems professionals: a longitudinal study a concern of many information systems (i/s) managers is the ability to attract, retain, and motivate their i/s professional staff, particularly those who have the potential to be high performers. however, many of the attitudes and attributes of these newly-hired employees are formed prior to entering the workplace; they are shaped by the students' college studies and by their personal backgrounds and characteristics.this study investigates the career progression of nearly a thousand i/s majors from 38 colleges and universities who have been tracked over several years as they complete their college studies and move into their first i/s jobs. it examines three aspects of this progression: career preparation and entry; work adjustment; and career outlook, both at present and long-term. a number of key variables are identified, derived both from theory and from the empirical results of the study. in particular, the balance between developing technical skills and "people" skills as individuals move through the early stages of their careers is given special attention. ephraim r. mclean stanley j. smits john r. tanner
educating the working computer scientist(a survey and analysis)  due to the strong job market for recipients of bachelor of computer science degrees, fewer graduates are immediately continuing with post-graduate education. these individuals will experience a need for graduate education later, at a time when they are less able to attend school on a full-time basis. this will lead to an increasing demand for part-time graduate programs, especially near centers of computer technology. this paper reports the results of an informal survey of existing part-time degree-granting graduate programs in computer science. topics discussed include program format, student enrollment, source of faculty, and characteristics of students.  ronald l. danielson
activating "black boxes" instead of opening "zipper" - a method of teaching novices basic cs concepts  in this paper we implement and evaluate of a unique instructional method for teaching basic concepts in computer science. this method is based on introducing a new concept through activating "black boxes" that demonstrate the properties of the concept and its role in the computing process. we used the "black box"-based instructional method to teach basic concepts of computation to novice high-school students. later we conducted research aimed at assessing the effectiveness of this method on novice students' perceptions of basic concepts in computation. research results indicated that students who learned according to the "black box"-based approach gained a better understanding of the basic computational model, compared to students who learned according to the traditional "zipper" approach.  bruria haberman yifat ben-david kolikant
plagiarism in computer sciences courses(panel discussion)  what constitutes cheating on programming assignments? what methods can be used to detect cheating? what should be done with offenders? how can cheating be eliminated in programming courses? these are all pertinent questions, but they are directed more towards treating symptoms rather than towards correcting some very fundamental problems.  how can student interest in computer programming be stimulated? what can be done to reduce the frustrations inherent in writing and debugging code? what should be expected (and what should not be expected) of students taking introductory programming courses? how can individual performance and achievement be measured effectively for grading purposes?  with critical problems of computer fraud and software theft increasing all the time, making computer science students aware of the ethics of the computer industry seems not only appropriate but necessary.  philip l. miller william dodrill doris k. lidtke cynthia brown michael shamos mary dee harris fosberg
software protection of micro computer software (abstract only)  the software pirate is ubiquitous. there is no way of estimating the quantity of stolen software. the suggestion has been made that part of the solution to this problem be through the teaching of ethics, and of the law. this reminds the writer of the effects the same approach which was taken during prohibition, and is now being taken to suppress drug traffic. which cured neither problem. this author believes that human nature is reasonably constant, that this "new" problem isn't new but can be considered as a combination of human greed combined with the almost certainty of a lack of punishment, either legally, or of community disapproval. the combination of greed + no punishment can only be stopped by the removal of one or both of the reason for software theft. the chance of actual punishment is very low --- much less than that of getting a parking ticket. this is only one solution the author can see --- remove the profit factor. bootlegging wasn't stopped by the revenuers --- the author lived in north georgia for a time, where corn was measured in gallons per acre. it wasn't stopped by a lack of greed. it simply became unprofitable. the argument the author presents is that the only way the problem can be attached successfully is for the software vendors to charge a low enough price that theft isn't worth the trouble --- at least a few software houses are taking this approach, with some success.  t. f. higginbotham
computer ethics and tertiary level education in hong kong  this paper seeks to highlight some ethical issues relating to the increasing proliferation of information technology into our everyday lives. the authors explain their understanding of computer ethics, and give some reasons why the study of computer ethics is becoming increasingly pertinent. the paper looks at some of the problems that arise in attempting to develop appropriate ethical concepts in a constantly changing environment, and explores some of the ethical dilemmas arising from the increasing use of computers. some initial research undertaken to explore the ideas and understanding of tertiary level students in hong kong on a number of ethical issues of interest is described, and our findings discussed. we hope that presenting this paper and eliciting subsequent discussion will enable us to draw up more comprehensive guidelines for the teaching of computer related ethics to tertiary level students, as well as reveal some directions for future research.  eva y. w. wong robert m. davison patricia w. wade
relationships between selected organizational factors and systems development  three organizational variables influence the quality of the system development process: available resources (both human and financial), external influences on the development process, and the project team's exposure to information systems. public information and interviews with systems managers from 28 large private firms yielded data about the organizational variables. systems project group members completed questionnaires concerning the system development process. the results indicate that human resources affect the development process positively, but increased financial resources are related to team disagreement. the degree of external influence on the system development effort needs to be carefully monitored and controlled. systems exposure in the firm allows an increase in the degree of awareness among project group members about the different problems encountered by users and systems staff.  ananth srinivasan kate m. kaiser
a framework for understanding the workspace activity of design teams  small group design sessions were empirically studied to understand better collaborative workspace activity. a conventional view of workspace activity may be characterized as concerned only with storing information and conveying ideas through text and graphics. empirical evidence shows that this view is deficient in not accounting for how the workspace is used: a) in a group setting, rather than by an individual, and b) as part of a process of constructing artifacts, rather than just a medium for the resulting artifacts themselves. an understanding of workspace activity needs to include the role of gestural activity, and the use of the workspace to develop ideas and mediate interaction. a framework that helps illustrate an expanded view of workspace activity is proposed and supported with empirical data.  john c. tang larry j. leifer
organizing a live call-in tv show about computers  a live, call-in television show is an environment conducive for answering quick questions. it also provides user services staff with an opportunity for distributing information quickly to a large audience without relying on the more traditional mechanisms of documentation or online help  this paper describes the steps that were taken to develop and produce a live, call- in television show. it also provides some background about how local community resources were used for producing the show (the show was produced with no budget), how the television show was broadcast and what the response was to the show. some recommendations are made for user services personnel who may be interested in replicating the approach described in this paper. the television show described in this paper was made when the author was working for a state- run university in northwest indiana.  william e. mihalo
the impact of scanners on employment in supermarkets  a brief review is given of the early estimates of the rate at which scanners would be installed in supermarkets and the resulting labor and consumer responses. the actual situation in 1979 is then discussed and detailed labor savings achieved by one supermarket chain are given. a fully scanner-equipped supermarket is estimated to have a 5 percent lower labor requirement than an unautomated store with the same volume. it is projected that 50 percent of the 23,000 large supermarkets will install scanners by 1984 with the remainder doing so by 1988. at full penetration, scanners will reduce total industry employment by approximately 50,000. few actual layoffs will occur because of the high turnover in the industry. furthermore, the stores that install scanners may attract customers from nonautomated stores leaving those stores to handle the job losses.  bruce gilchrist arlaana shenkin
experiences teaching software engineering for the first time  this paper presents an approach to teaching a software engineering course, as well as significant feedback from the students who were enrolled in the first offering of the course using this approach. the course provided students with conceptual material as well as experience with a large project. just teaching concepts or major topics, while important, is not sufficient; students need hands-on exposure to doing a large project in order to comprehend the complexity of building real systems. on the other hand a course cannot "teach" only a project because students need a conceptual framework, approaches, and techniques upon which to base the complexities of software engineering. the feedback from the students who took the first offering of the course provides useful information to anyone who teaches software engineering, in addition to instructors preparing to teach the subject for the first time.  k. todd stevens
on changing from written to on-line tests in computer science i: an assessment how do on-line tests compare with written tests in _computer science i_? do students who do well in written tests also do well in an online test? is an online test better or worse than a written test at assessing the problem- solving skills of a student? this paper summarizes the answers to these questions that we found during our switch from written to on-line testing. amruth n. kumar