Abstraction,Design, and Theory in Computer Science: A Liberal Arts Course

The primary thesis of this article is that undergraduates of any major can understand the important theories of computer science (CS) and the relevance of computing technology. We propose that by conceptualizing CS service courses as liberal education classes that emphasize such topics, we can move students from a state of technological ignorance and fear to one of understanding and appreciation of technology. Here, we provide an instance of such a course. A detailed explanation of the course and student and instructor evaluations are described and discussed.     

How do students misunderstand number representations?

We used both student interviews and diagnostic testing to reveal students’ misconceptions about number representations in computing systems. This article reveals that students who have passed an undergraduate level computer organization course still possess surprising misconceptions about positional notations, two's complement representation, and overflow. Contrary to common opinion, these misconceptions are widespread and reveal the need for instruction that specifically targets these misconceptions. In addition, these misconceptions will serve as the basis for the creation of a standard assessment tool called the digital logic concept inventory. This concept inventory will provide a rigorous and quantitative metric to assess the effectiveness of new teaching methods.     

Adolescent needs,curriculum and the Eight-Year Study

This paper explores the concept of needs as a basis for curriculum development through the deliberations of the US educators associated with the Progressive Education Association's Commission on the Secondary School Curriculum of the Eight-Year Study (1933-1941). Noting how divergent views of 'needs' influenced American educational thought from the 1930s to the life-adjustment movement of the late 1940s and 1950s, the importance of social philosophy is underscored as a pre-requisite for curriculum development and criticize the current standards-based reform movement in US education for the lack of concern with both student needs and social theory.     

The Small Rural Primary School

Rural education is a conundrum long‐endured, but seldom considered at any length until very recently. The Small Rural Primary School is one such recent consideration, this time from Britain. Readers in the us will experience the unsettling feeling that they almost know the authors’ topic. Bell and Sigsworth's consideration, however, is reflective in a way that is not common in similar us works. For American readers, such differences can help shake new perceptions out of old conundrums. The notion of community development articulated here has particular relevance for American educators.     

Community-Oriented Environmental Education

Abstract

This paper presents an account of developments in an environmental education course for practicing teachers. The course is open campus (its materials are packaged and sent to distant off-campus students) and has been running now for six years. This account reports some of the changes that have taken place as the course has been taught—changes that are responses to reflections on the course by both faculty and students. The view is taken that deliberate changes in course organization and practice and careful reflection on the outcomes of those changes ought to proceed together in a cyclic fashion, toward an improved understanding of the relationship between the course's theoretical rationale and its practical embodiment. Four such cycles of revision, are reported here.     

The Social Cognition of Gifted Adolescents

This paper reviews major research findings on social cognition in gifted adolescents. We discuss interpersonal and intrapersonal perceptions of giftedness (i.e., how gifted students view themselves, and how they perceive others’ views of them), the social coping strategies of this population (e.g., denying and hiding one's giftedness, conforming to mask giftedness, and helping others), and the gender, age, and self-concept differences shown in strategy choice when interacting with others. Results suggest that both American and Chinese gifted students employ social coping strategies to manage the visibility of their abilities in social situations, and there is a consistent link between coping strategy and self-concepts; but the findings with regard to social cognitive strategies, themselves, are conflicting. Implications of these findings and recommendations are presented.