Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!giza.cis.ohio-state.edu!perlman From: perlman@giza.cis.ohio-state.edu (Gary Perlman) Newsgroups: comp.edu Subject: Re: Logo for college-level computer literacy courses Message-ID: <82599@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> Date: 1 Aug 90 01:40:33 GMT References: <1990Jul31.195854.4630@cs.rochester.edu> Sender: news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu Organization: Computer & Info Sci Ohio State Univ Columbus, OH 43210 Lines: 38 In article <1990Jul31.195854.4630@cs.rochester.edu> Cesar A. Quiroz writes: >We are sort of considering running a computer literacy class with >something like Logo instead of Pascal. I would appreciate hearing >about other people's experiences with this idea. The class is very >time-constrained, and most of the students don't expect to do much >programming later. Maybe this is heresy, but instead of teaching computer literacy by teaching what very few people do with computers (program), why not try to teach the concepts in a realistic context, with a simple integrated package like MicroSoft Works. Although word-processing has little abstraction (you can write macros), other parts of such systems have programmable databases and spreadsheets. Being able to graph the results is also motivating. >The students didn't expect to do much >programming before they took the class; after the class, they *know* >they don't *want* to do any programming. A pity. For most computer users, even heavy duty users, only a small percentage of their work is programming. I guess that much more is editing. The popularity of personal computers is not due to the availability of programming envirnments, but is instead due to the widespread availability of utilities like spreadsheets. I suspect that 1-2-3 and dBase macros are much more common forms of programming these days, even though many would contend that putting together applications without compiling is cheating. I believe that you can convey concepts like symbolic manipulation in either a spreadsheet or a database, but I have no experience teaching that material. From my dim recollections of teaching introductory programming (with Pascal), I do recall that students did not learn very much at all. It might be worthwhile to try to teach computer literacy by teaching how computers are really used (these days), as tools. That might be motivating, too. -- Name: Gary Perlman | Computer and Information Science Department Email: perlman@cis.ohio-state.edu | Ohio State University, 228 Bolz Hall Phone: 614-292-2566 | 2036 Neil Avenue Mall Fax: 614-785-9837 or 292-9021 | Columbus, OH 43210-1277 USA