Do Non‐Computer Science Students Need to Program?*
Mark Urban‐Lurain, Donald J. Weinshank · Journal of Engineering Education · 2001
Abstract Should non‐CS majors learn to program? While the 1999 National Academy of Sciences report “Being Fluent with Information Technology”1 advocates teaching programming as part of the CS‐0 experience, we challenge the assumptions upon which this recommendation rests. Our extensive review of the NECC and SIGCSE conference proceedings from 1979 to 1998 clearly shows a decline in the number of articles in which programming is taught in CS‐0 courses. Furthermore, based upon learning theory literature, we argue that conceptual understanding of computing can be acquired without learning to program. Finally, we describe our criterion‐referenced, mastery‐model course that currently enrolls approximately 2000 students per semester for a computing future that is constantly changing. Interpretation of the loadings of the discriminant analysis functions provides evidence that the students are developing conceptual understanding, rather than simply acquiring discrete skills.