Catalog description: CSCE 144: Introduction to Computer Science – NS An introduction to computer science including problem solving, algorithm design, object-oriented programming, numerical and non-numerical applications, and use of data files. Ethical and social impacts of computing. Prerequisite: Four years of high school mathematics or MATH 140 or equivalent. (4)

Departmental: CSCE144 is the first Computer Science course taken by Computer Science majors and minors and is one of the first two CS/CE courses taken by Computer Engineering majors and minors (the other is CSCE 131, Introduction to Engineering).

University: A few other disciplines (e.g., Mathematics, Physics and the 3/2 Engineering program) require majors to take CSCE144. The course also fulfills the "Natural Science" General University Requirement, although few non-science students enroll in the class for this purpose because the class is perceived to be difficult.

Students

PLU is a small liberal arts university (University Profile) and most of our students are "traditional" college students who have recently graduated from high school (only 18% of PLU students are age 25 or older). Few are ethnic minorities (14.5%) and most (76%) are from Washington state. The majority of students enrolling in CSCE144 have not had a previous programming course, although a few have. It is a challenge to make sure these more knowledgable students don't intimidate the less experienced students in the class.

Faculty

Most faculty are full-time and tenure-track (7 of 8 in CS/CE), class sizes are small (15:1 student/faculty ratio at PLU; the department is similar). The course has a weekly two-hour lab session that is taught by a CSCE144 instructor and a student assistant. The small class sizes and lab time mean faculty have ample opportunity to interact with students individually. The relatively high tuition at PLU means students expect and demand lots of attention from faculty.

Other constraints

Due the common lab sessions, faculty who teach CSCE144 in the same semester must coordinate schedules, assignments, text books, etc. Otherwise, for the one or two faculty teaching the course in a given semester there is a great deal of flexibility and autonomy in selecting textbooks and making other decisions about the class. Unfortunately, this freedom has led to inconsistencies in the way the course was taught in past which have caused problems for instructors and students in the next course (CSCE 270 - Data Structures). This led the department to develop a set of guidelines for the class (see Recommendations for CSCE144 Instructors at PLU) that instructors are now expected to follow. The department recently moved into a new building so the lab facilities are quite good and the course is now typically taught in a "smart" computer class room. There is also support for tutors, lab assistants and graders for the class. Making the best use of the available support and new computer facilities is a (welcomed) challenge for our department.

Last Modified: 06/02/2006