Some suggestions for implementing closed laboratories in CS1
Ken R. Little · 1990
A bstractThe ACM Task Force on the Core of Computer Science has recently proposed a computer science teaching paradigm conforming to traditional scientific standards.Such a paradigm implies that an undergraduate curriculum in computing should ideally be composed of an integrated program of lectures and laboratory experiences.There arc two distinct types of computing laboratory experiences -often referred to as open and closed laboratories.In this paper, some general suggestions and guidelines concerning the construction of coupled elosed/open laboratories for the CS1 course arc given.An outline of a coupled elosed/open laboratory designed using the suggested guidelines is presented.In tro d u ctio nIn 1985, the ACM Task Force on the Core of Computing was established to examine the state of the discipline and arrive at a definition of computer science that would emphasize fundamental questions and significant accomplishments.Early in 1989, the Core Task Force [1] presented a new and challenging definition of computer science as a discipline.Based upon this new definition, the Task Force further proposed a teaching paradigm conforming to traditional scientific standards.A significant implication of such a paradigm is the incorporation of laboratory experiences as an essential component of the undergraduate curriculum.In particular, the Core Task Force advocates that the undergraduate curriculum in computing should ideally be composed of an integrated program of lectures and laboratory experiences.These laboratory experiences should augment (he instruction that takes place in the lectures by providing students an opportunity to test and explore concepts in ways which complement that instruction.The ACM Task Force on the Core of Computing has provided the intellectual framework for a new curriculum, but it was not charged with describing model curricula in detail.An ACM/IEEE Joint Curriculum Task Force, formed in the Spring of 1988, has as its charier to develop a model for the design of undergraduate curricula in the