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Introduction to Computers for Arts and Social Sciences (2010)
This page shows the course content for the 2010 summer version. To see the most up-to-date material, please visit this page.
Course Outline
The course outline is available online from Carleton's School of Computer Science.
Learning Objectives
- Gain an appreciation of what computer science is and how it relates to the arts and social sciences.
- Practice computational thinking.
- Learn about the software and tools that will help you succeed in an undergraduate program.
Topics
- Introduction to computer science and computational thinking
- Binary numbers and data representation
- Basic programming with Scratch
- Introduction to Microsoft Word and Powerpoint
- Algorithms
- Human computer interaction
- Using the Internet effectively: security, software and tools
- Open source software
Course Notes (Summer 2010)
These slides are not completely representative of what I did in class (I don't like teaching off the slides, but use them as a guide), but give a good general idea.
- Introduction to computer science and computational thinking
- Binary numbers and data representation
- Basic programming with Scratch
- Introduction to Microsoft Word and Powerpoint
- Algorithms
- Human computer interaction
- Using the Internet effectively: security, software and tools
- Open source software
Assignments
Sample Results for Assignment 1
- Computer Assisted Instruction for 21st Century Psychology
- How Computing Can Help With Cooking
- Computing and Dance
- Research Psychology
- ScreenXTreme
What I Would Change Next Time
A better order of topics might be:
- Introduction to computer science and computational thinking
- Introduction to Microsoft Word and Powerpoint (allows the students to learn the more advanced features of Word before completing any assignments)
- Algorithms (allows students to get a feel for this type of thinking before they do Scratch)
- Basic programming with Scratch
- Binary numbers and data representation (nothing depends on teaching this)
- Human computer interaction (this is where the "How Can Computing Help?" assignment could be given)
- Using the Internet effectively: security, software and tools
- Open source software
Along with the topic shuffle, the assignments would be shuffled. I would probably add another assignment or two that relate to topics not covered in the original assignment.
Presentations were helpful in a sense, but even with a relatively small class it was difficult to organize. I might drop them in the summer, and couldn't do them in the fall/winter (unless they were done in tutorials).
If not doing in-class presentations, more topics could be covered. Excel would be a useful one to bring back, and is a great opportunity to illustrate use of algorithms. I also didn't end up having much time to demo the open source software I wanted to (GIMP, Inkscape, etc), so this is another possibility.
I opted not to have a midterm because I was giving a fair number of assignments for a condensed summer term. However, a better alternative would have been to have pop quizzes on each topic. Students could have, say, the best 7 out of 8 of their quizzes replace their midterm (if there is one) or some/all of the final.