New Projects
Margie Hobbs, Johnny W. Lott, Anthony V. Piccolino, Margariete Montague Wheeler, Nancy C. Whitman · Mathematics Teacher Learning and Teaching PK-12 · 1981
The claim is often made that one can learn BASIC in a few hours or that a two-week programming supplement to an existing course can meet all the needs of the high school student with respect to computer programming. Although computer “literacy” can be part of any mathematics program through simple restructuring or such modest curricular additions as those cited above, many high school students have interests and capabilities that demand more depth than this. In fact, as society becomes more knowledgeable about the role and function of the computer and as freshmen college students find increasing use of the computer in their introductory courses, high schools are faced with a mandate to provide courses that offer a depth of knowledge in programming that exceeds the traditional high school computer courses. In its seven years of operation Briarcrest High School, an independent school in Memphis, Tennessee, has developed a computer curriculum that provides instruction beyond the introductory level.