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Good Places to Start"Artificial intelligence (AI) may be defined as the branch of computer science that is concerned with the automation of intelligent behavior. This definition is particularly appropriate to this book in that it emphasizes our conviction that AI is a part of computer science and, as such, must be based on sound theoretical and applied principles of that field. These principles include the data structures used in knowledge representation, the algorithms needed to apply that knowledge, and the languages and programming techniques used in their implementation." - from Artificial Intelligence, Structures and Strategies for Complex Problem Solving, 4th edition. George F. Luger. 2002. Addison Wesley. Page 1. "Computational intelligence is intimately linked with the discipline of computer science. While there are many non-computer scientists who are researching CI, much, if not most, CI (or AI) research is done within computer science departments. We believe this is appropriate, as the study of computation is central to CI. It is essential to understand algorithms, data structures, and combinatorial complexity in order to build intelligent machines. It is also surprising how much of computer science started as a spin off from AI, from timesharing to computer algebra systems." - from Computational Intelligence - A Logical Approach. David Poole, Alan Mackworth and Randy Goebel. 1998. Oxford University Press, New York. Page 6. Computer Science Major - from the College Board's collection of Major & Career Profiles: "Computer science majors learn about computer systems and the way humans and computers interact from a scientific perspective. Instruction includes the theory and design of hardware and software." Career Pathways for Computer Science Majors. From the Career Education Center at Georgetown University. "There is no question that a computer science graduate has a bright future in today’s job market. ... A computer science degree offers more than just technical knowledge - many theoretical and mathematical concepts are used in developing software and hardware solutions to diverse problems. Additionally, there are computer science courses in which a computer is never used, such as investigating the theoretical nature of artificial intelligence." Computing center connects CMU, Microsoft. By Mark Roth. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (March 27, 2007). "Jeannette Wing got angry with a friend recently when he advised his child to major in physics in college instead of computer science. Physics is exciting, he suggested, while computer science is mostly 'clerical' computer programming. Nothing could be further from the truth, said the impassioned Dr. Wing, head of Carnegie Mellon University's world-class computer science department. The chance to correct that misimpression is one reason she is happy that Microsoft announced yesterday that it is giving Carnegie Mellon $1.5 million over the next three years to establish the Microsoft Carnegie Mellon Center for Computational Thinking. ... One day, she would like to see parents advise their children to study computer science because 'you can go into computing and do anything.'" Programming doesn't begin to define computer science. By Jim Morris ["professor of computer science and dean of Carnegie Mellon University's West Coast campus"]. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (July 4, 2004). "The tech meltdown affecting computer jobs as well as stock prices, and the stories about off-shoring of programming jobs, have caused a decline in computer science enrollments at colleges and universities across the country. This wouldn't happen if people understood the real goals of computer science. ... The current approaches to computer science education fail to teach the science of computing. As a result, they fail to inspire the very best and brightest young minds to enter the field. Computer science is faced with scientific challenges that rival any in history, yet are relevant to practical problems of today. Computer science involves questions that have the potential to change how we view the world. For example: What is the nature of intelligence, and can we reproduce it in a machine? ... Or, how can one predict the performance of a complex system? ... Or, what is the nature of human cognition.... Or, does the natural world 'compute'? ... Computer science education is not just training for the computer industry. A computer science program is a great preparation for many careers: business, law, medicine, biology -- any field touched by computing. ... How does computing fit into the world? The computer is becoming the interface between people and their world. Computer scientists must know enough history and social science to chart and predict the impact of computers on the intersecting worlds of work, entertainment and society. To do this, they must understand the modern world and its roots. To participate in today's debates about privacy, one must understand both computers and society." What is Computer Science? Part of the Adventures in Science and Technology site produced by Miriam Padolsky and Hilary Myron of Galactics, and available from Canada's Digital Collections (CDC)."Computer science is different from just using the computers that are all around us. Computer scientists develop things for the computers that the rest of us will use. Most computer scientists are either programmers or researchers. ... Computer scientists are not only programmers, however. Many computer scientists also do different kinds of research. One important area of study is artificial intelligence. Researchers in this area are trying to understand whether machines can think like people, or perhaps are trying to actually create intelligent machines."
Computer Science. Which Course? magazine (Issue 30.6) / available from The Independent Online Edition (January 28, 2002). "Computer science is a subject that reaches into almost every aspect of modern life ? from the internet, aircraft control and ATM machines to the very latest in high-tech science, computer modelling of the brain and investigating human language. It is a subject with a big hand in defining the way we live today and where progress is a fact of life." And the article offers helpful links for those wishing to study computer science in the UK. Computer Science Course Descriptions: Appendix B to Computing Curricula: Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Computer Science (2001). Developed by the Joint IEEE Computer Society / ACM Model Curricula for Computing Task Force. "This appendix to the Computing Curricula 2001 report consists of a set of course descriptions intended to serve as models for institutions offering undergraduate degrees in computer science." Related Career Titles for Computer Science Majors. From The University of Toronto Computer Science Department. Starting with Accountant and ending with Web Programmer, there's lots to consider. Computer Science Brochure from IBM Research. "In 1965, when computer science was still a new academic discipline, the first department of computer science was formed in the IBM Research Division at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center (Yorktown Heights, NY). The department's stated mission was "to create and test new concepts and techniques in computer systems design, and to identify and provide a first inroad into new areas of computer applications." Since then,our research program which is broad and deep, has covered twenty different areas of computer science and the related discipline of operations research. In this brochure, we have grouped these areas into five broad themes: Foundations, Systems, Software, Internet, and Interaction." Topics include: Algorithms and Theory, Computational Biology, Programming Languages and Software Engineering, Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, Artificial Intelligence, Human-Computer Interaction, and Natural Language Processing.
Nigel Shadbolt - The ITWales Interview. By Sali Earls. ITWales.com (February 22, 2007). "Nigel Shadbolt is Professor of Artificial Intelligence in the School of Electronics and Computer Science at Southampton University. He is Director of Interdisciplinary Research within ECS, and Director of the EPSRC Advanced Knowledge Technologies IRC. Since 1978 he has been carrying out research in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cognitive Science, has published some 190 articles on various facets of AI, and has written and co-edited eight books. In November 2006, Professor Shadbolt was announced as President of the British Computer Society.... [[SE:] You made a point there about getting the brightest and best kids involved in Computer Science, but my observation is that the IT curriculum taught in schools does not provide a good grounding in basic computing, favouring something more appropriate to secretarial skills. The perception that many kids have of the subject is one that is often boring or geeky. If you had the opportunity to rewrite the school syllabus from scratch, what would you teach the pupils? [NS:] ... Because of my background I always look at it from an AI perspective, because I think that's fundamentally an intruiging and fascinating way to come into Computing. The founders of our subject were all intruiged by AI - people like Turing, von Neumann, people like this - wondering if machines could perform in ways that were flexible, intelligent and adaptive. All those people who founded our subject were excited and pulled in by this, and I think that we could get those messages out much more powerfully, and also it's not just about computers - it's about the information fabric, it's about the web, it's about how information is held, managed and published, and how Computing affects all the other subjects that are being taught at school - we really could pull things together and it could be a very good crossroads for linking subjects together." Three documents from Aaron Sloman [School of Computer Science, The University of Birmingham] pertaining to the relationship between CompSci and AI:
"Why Choose CSE? "Why do undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty choose computer science & engineering as their field? What takes place during a day in the life of a CSE alum working in the software or Internet industry? Three videos from University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering address these questions. Take a look! Get a taste of what CSE holds in store for you! Learn more about this exciting field!" Readings OnlineComputer Science Looks for a Remake - How can CS become an appealing career choice again? Robot dogs, a new focus on users and a prime-time TV show. Future Watch by Gary Anthes. Computerworld (May 1, 2006). "Two of the world's premier facilities for research and education in computer science are celebrating big birthdays this spring. Stanford University's CS department observed its 40th birthday in March, and Carnegie Mellon University's school of CS passed the half-century mark last month. Despite the celebrations on both campuses, there is a deep malaise in computer science these days. Professors bemoan falling enrollments, a decline in prestige and a lack of attention to real-world problems. But, paradoxically, they say the future of CS has never been brighter, both within the discipline and in fields that computer technology will increasingly influence. Computerworld's Gary Anthes recently asked six CS professors [Kenneth P. Birman, Randal E. Bryant, John Canny, Jaime Carbonell, Bernard Chazelle, and William J. Dally] what lies ahead for the field. ... How important is computer science as a discipline today? ... Which areas in CS will show the most important and interesting advancements in the next few years? ... Carbonell: Artificial intelligence. Although those words may be somewhat out of fashion these days, much of the deep excitement and universally useful apps descend therefrom. For example: speech understanding and synthesis in handheld devices, in cars, in laptops; machine translation of text and spoken language; new search engines that find what you want, not just Web pages that contain query words; self-healing software, including adaptive networks that reconfigure for reliability; robotics for mine safety, planetary exploration; prosthetics for medical/nursing care and manufacturing; game theory for electronic commerce, auctions and their design to ensure fairness and market liquidity and maximize aggregate social wealth. ... Is the looming end of Moore's Law a key driver for CS today? ... How can CS be made a more attractive choice for students? ... How should CS programs be modernized? ... Bernard Chazelle says CS lacks a 'great popularizer' such as Stephen Hawking in physics. Does CS need such a person?" Bryn Mawr CS Program Chosen to Co-Host Microsoft Robotics Institute With Georgia Tech - Software Giant Cites BMC's Expertise in Educational Robotics. Bryn Mawr Now (July 13, 2006). "'Bryn Mawr's involvement in this partnership introduces the ideas and problems in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to a very different set of students from the traditional engineering types that have worked on those problems over the past 50 years,' says [Deepak] Kumar. 'As a result, I think we will see some very different and amazing solutions to these kinds of problems.' The Bryn Mawr program's pedagogical philosophy springs from its unusual understanding of the discipline itself as a liberal-arts field, [Douglas] Blank and Kumar say. 'We see computer science as a way of asking and attempting to answer some of the big questions that are really at the heart of a liberal-arts degree, be it in French, physics or philosophy. Big questions such as: Who are we? Where have we come from? What is consciousness?' Blank explains." Declining computer-science enrollments should worry anyone interested in the future of the U.S. IT industry. By Eric Chabrow. Information Week (August 16, 2004). "Computer science often loses out to other fields of study, many of which depend on high-end computing. The type of student who once expressed interest in computer science now is lured by life sciences such as biology and chemistry, or even criminal justice, attracted to those fields by the popularity of criminal forensic shows such as CSI and Crossing Jordan. 'Things on TV guide their interests,' says Charles McCamant, head of Angelo State's computer-science department. Leaders of computer-science programs, having ridden a rising tide of employment and prominence for decades, concede they need to do a better job promoting their discipline and highlighting the great challenges ahead. [Mark] Stehlik notes that in real life, criminologists rely heavily on computers to solve crimes, something represented on TV shows by images of fingerprints quickly flashing by on a PC monitor. 'What's really happening here is pattern matching. That's computer science,' Stehlik says." Any questions? Holding out for a better university and the point of picking the right school. Column by John Clare. Telegraph Education & telegraph.co.uk (August 18, 2004). "My son, who is waiting for his A-level grades, wants to study computer science. He has accepted the offer of a place at Southampton, which requires an A and two Bs. ... What's your view? [Excerpt from the response ->] Your son is half right. Low-status universities do diminish their graduates' job prospects, but Southampton is not among them. League tables as currently constituted are, at best, an imprecise guide. ... " Computer Science Participation: a video of the CSE Distinguished Lecture given by Jan Cuny at CSE Colloquia - 2005, The University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering Colloquium Series, available from the ResearchChannel ("a non-profit organization founded in 1996 by a consortium of leading research universities, institutions and corporate research centers dedicated to creating a widely accessible voice for research through video and Internet channels"). The New Educational Imperative: Improving High School Computer Science Education - Using worldwide research and professional experience to improve U.S.Schools. By the Computer Science Teachers Association CSTA] Curriculum Improvement Task Force. "This report ... provides a comprehensive look at high school computer science education in the United States and around the world. Beginning with an examination of the current state of high school computer science education and its link to national economic issues, it includes: an extensive review of international research, a look at how other countries have successfully developed and implemented national curricula for high school computer science, and common sense suggestions for how all stakeholders (legislators, state and federal policy makers, school district policy makers, principals, teachers, university and college faculty, and business and industry) can implement changes that will improve every aspect of high school computer science education." Computer Science Takes Steps to Bring Women to the Fold. By Cornelia Dean. The New York Times (April 17, 2007). "For decades, undergraduate women have been moving in ever greater numbers into science and engineering departments at American universities. Yet even as they approach or exceed enrollment parity in mathematics, biology and other fields, there is one area in which their presence relative to men is static or even shrinking: computer science. Women received about 38 percent of the computer science bachelor’s degrees awarded in the United States in 1985, the peak year, but in 2003, the figure was only about 28 percent, according to the National Science Foundation. ... They are concerned about this trend, they say, not just because they want to see young women share the field’s challenges and rewards, but also because they regard the relative absence of women as a troubling indicator for American computer science generally -- and for the economic competitiveness that depends on it. 'Women are the canaries in the coal mine,' Lenore Blum, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, told an audience at Harvard University in March, in a talk on this 'crisis' in computer science. ... These experts play down the two explanations most often offered for flagging enrollment: the dot-com bust and the movement of high-tech jobs offshore. ... According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for computer scientists in the United States will only increase in coming years, Dr. [Jan] Cuny said. ... The big problems, these and other experts say, are prevailing images of what computer science is and who can do it. ... At one time, said Barbara Grosz, a computer scientist and dean of sciences at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard, students entered college with little idea of what computer science involved, 'so they would try it and find out how much fun and how interesting it was, women included.' Now, though, she said in an e-mail message, 'they get the wrong idea in high school and we never see them to correct the misperception.' ... At Brown University, for example, an organization called Women in Computer Science @Brown runs the Artemis Project, which brings ninth-grade girls from schools in Providence, R.I., to the university campus for five weeks each summer. Its goal is to help the girls learn both concrete computer skills and abstract computer science concepts 'in a positive and encouraging environment.'" The Great Principles of Computing - an interview with Peter Denning. Ubiquity (February 4-10, 2004; Volume 4, Issue 48). "UBIQUITY: Any other reasons for focusing on the Great Principles? DENNING: Yes, the next, after reducing the apparent complexity of the field, is the perception of computing as a field of programmers. In 1988, I led an ACM/IEEECS task force that produced the report Computing as a Discipline. We were very concerned about dispelling the image of computing as a field of programmers. Computing people know that programming is a small fraction of all we do; there's a lot of scientific and engineering content in computing that is not programming. Unfortunately, our attempt to change this perception did not succeed. Today the perception that computing is basically a field of programmers is as strong as ever. ... UBIQUITY: Talk about the Principles of Computing that you helped develop? DENNING: There are two categories of principles — mechanics and design. Mechanics refers to the fundamental laws and recurrences of computation. Mechanics subdivides into five categories; we call them computation, communication, coordination, recollection, and automation. ... Automation concerns the general question of what cognitive tasks, ordinarily associated with human intelligence, can be automated. In many ways, "What can be automated?" is the fundamental question behind all computing. The automation area of computing includes software agents, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science." Student Interest in Computer Science Plummets - Technology companies struggle to fill vacant positions. By Andrea L. Foster. The Chronicle of Higher Education (May 27, 2005). "'Women seem to come to computer science later,' says Ms. [Janice E.] Cuny, citing research by Jane Margolis, of the University of California at Los Angeles Graduate School of Education, and Allan Fisher, a former associate dean of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. 'Women seem to be more interested in the uses of computer science, whereas guys seem to be more interested in the technology itself.' For that reason, Ms. Cuny and other professors advocate that colleges restructure their curricula. Too many teenagers naïvely assume that the field is just about programming, they say, a perception reinforced by the Advanced Placement examination in computer science." Opening doors for women in computing. By Ed Frauenheim and Alorie Gilbert. CNET News.com (February 7, 2005). "Data from the National Science Foundation shows that the female share of bachelor's degrees in computer science dropped from 37 percent in 1985 to 28 percent in 2001. And while women comprised 33 percent of information technology professionals in 1990, that figure was down to 26 percent in 2002, according to NSF. The drop is puzzling in part because women are making progress in related areas such as the natural sciences. On the other hand, some efforts to bring women back to computing appear to be paying off. That's seen as vital for reasons including fueling the nation's tech economy and preventing male bias in the way future technology is developed. ... One of the newest and most ambitious groups to emerge is the National Center for Women and Information Technology, a nonprofit based at the University of Colorado at Boulder that received a four-year, $3.25 million grant last year from the National Science Foundation. The group's goal is to increase the ranks of women in the U.S. computing and IT work force from about 25 percent today to 50 percent over the next 20 years. ... Another focus is reforming college computer science programs to make them less about weeding out weak students and more about encouraging all comers to succeed." Prediction is difficult, especially about the future - Michael Gough assesses the future of the IT industry and highlights some of the likely key developments. ITadviser (November / December 2007; Issue 52). "At the 2007 conference for the Council of Professors and Heads of Computer Science (CPHC) there was recognition that computing had to be 'embedded' in all disciplines. This is not the end of computer science, simply the recognition that science, engineering and technology, commerce, media and communications, health etc. all require its capabilities directly applied to advancing their agenda, knowledge and capabilities. For me computer science was always an applied discipline and this realisation simply means an opportunity to regroup and refocus its attentions on computing architecture, programming languages, the human-computer interface, parallel computing, and artificial intelligence." Computing's Lost Allure. By Katie Hafner. The New York Times (May 22, 2003; reg. req'd.). "At the height of the Internet boom in the late 90's, computer science talent was in such demand that recruiters offered signing bonuses to students who agreed to drop out of school. Now, spooked by layoffs and disabused of visions of overnight riches, many undergraduates are turning away from computer science as if it were somehow cursed. 'They overreacted to the boom, so why shouldn't they overreact to the bust?' said Anne Hunter, an administrator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who tracks application and enrollment figures. ... Undergraduates who might otherwise have chosen computer science appear to be fanning out to related yet more applied fields like business information technology, biotechnology and bioinformatics, which involves managing and manipulating databases of genetic information. ... For the undergraduates who do stick with computer science, some mental adjustments are necessary, not just about job prospects but about how to approach computer science as a discipline as well. Jennifer Li, a junior at Carnegie Mellon who is majoring in computer science, said that more people in her field were choosing second majors to enhance their job prospects in other fields like graphic arts and bioinformatics. ... Dr. van Dam argues that computer science is far from irrelevant. 'We are just at the very beginning of the computer revolution,' he said. 'People should realize that not only is it not over, but it's scarcely begun.'" Artificial intelligence - Transforming the world we live in. By Kate Hilpern. Independent Online Edition of Careers Adviser Magazine (October 26, 2007). "The study of artificial intelligence (AI) - even at undergraduate level - has never been so advanced, particularly in the UK, Japan and USA. 'We have a current student on our BSc in AI who is looking at putting emotions on a robot so that if it could show if it was curious or angry,' says Will Browne, lecturer in cybernetics at the University of Reading. ... Most people don't realise the extent to which AI is already used in our everyday lives, believes Brown - making a degree in it an increasingly relevant qualification. ... Little wonder that a growing number of universities across the UK are running degrees in AI. The kinds of people best suited to them, says Dr Browne, are people with a basic interest in engineering and computer science, combined with a curiosity of how animals, including humans, function and how intelligent behaviours are created - and, of course, more than a passing interest in robots. 'We are not looking for geeks,' insists Judith Masthofs, lecturer in computing science at the University of Aberdeen, which also offers an AI degree. 'We need good communicators and problem solvers. But there's no need for students to know where they want to work when they graduate because the opportunities are expanding all the time. We have a lot of students who go onto work in banks, predicting what the money market will do next, while others go on to work for intelligence organisations right through to oil companies.' ... The existence of such degrees are a good reason for people interested in AI to do some homework into the course best suited to them and not look exclusively for 'AI' to appear in the title. As Dr Klaus-Peter Zauner, lecturer in computer science at the University of Southampton, points out, 'All students who study computer science here do some work around AI.' ... Sethu Vijayakumar, reader at Edinburgh University - which offers separate degrees in computer science, AI and informatics - believes there has never been a more exciting time to study AI. 'It's used in everything from automatic speech recognition and speech translation systems right through to rehabilitation systems for stroke patients and disaster recovery systems. What could be more stimulating than the opportunity to contribute to such inventions?'"
Gender, Lies and Video Games - Women and Computer Sciences: a video of Maria Klawe's talk at CSE Colloquia - 2005, The University of Washington Computer Science & Engineering Colloquium Series, available from the ResearchChannel ("a non-profit organization founded in 1996 by a consortium of leading research universities, institutions and corporate research centers dedicated to creating a widely accessible voice for research through video and Internet channels"). Who are the new computer whizzes? Not the guy with a pocket protector, but a middle-aged minority woman. By Sandra Lilley. NBC News & MSNBC.com (July 19, 2005). "Pop quiz: Which schools produced the most degrees in computer science in 2001? MIT? Carnegie Mellon? Georgia Tech? If you guessed any of these, you’re wrong: try Strayer University and DeVry Institute of Technology. And what kind of student is most likely to take up computer science at Strayer or DeVry? If you guessed a young geeky guy with a pocket saver, guess again: try a 35-year-old African American or Hispanic woman who already has a full-time job at a company where information technology (IT) skills are a key to advancement." The New Geek. By Steve Lohr. PC Magazine (July 13, 2004), Something similar is occurring in the computer science departments at leading universities, where interdisciplinary programs are becoming the norm. A computer science degree now tends to be seen more like a liberal-arts major, as a solid grounding for all kinds of future endeavors rather than as a warm-up round of job training that precedes going to work in the computer industry. John Guttag, head of the electrical engineering and computer science department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, regards the changing nature of his field as both inevitable and healthy. His own background suggests a New Geek lineage: He was an English major at Brown University who then became enamored of computing. ... To Guttag, computer science is becoming the ideal liberal education for anyone technically inclined. 'We're trying to educate the right kind of computer scientist for the next generation,' he says. 'Computer science will be seen as exactly the right jumping-off point for all kinds of fields and occupations. It's a great time to be a computer scientist.'" Would-Be Math Teacher Ended Up Educating a Computer Revolution. By Steve Lohr. The New York Times; August 6, 2002 (no-fee reg. req'd). "Ms. [Frances E.] Allen's recent work on I.B.M.'s Blue Gene project, exploring the fundamental life process of protein-folding, was another research adventure for her. 'Computer science is a field that came out of the problems we solved and the ones we are still trying to solve,' she said. 'It's in my nature to find the frontiers.'" A range of options. By Swetha Nair. Khaleej Times Online (April 6, 2007). "What is the difference between Computer Science and Information Technology? - Sheetal, Dubai. Dear Sheetal The differences exist both at the academic level in the structure of the course and at the professional level, in the nature of your job and responsibilities. ... " Computer Science@40 - Faculty, alumni celebrate life-changing advances. From its origins in the Math Department, Computer Science reflects on its revolutionary research, entrepreneurial spirit. By David Orenstein. Stanford Report (April 5, 2006). Can't attend? Try distance learning - Taking classes online offers new option for disciplined students. By Tara Ramroop. San Mateo County Times (August 17, 2004). "Some of Bryce Martens' best students haven't shown up in his Computer and Information Systems classes very often at the College of San Mateo. One pupil was stationed aboard an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. ... In fact, online classes can be just as effective as traditional classes, or even more so, said CSM professor Melissa Green. In Green's experience, people taking these courses -- typically in business, accounting or computer science -- need to do so for the changing nature of their careers. Ron Bolts, a San Mateo resident, has been in the computer industry for the past 20 years, but took Martens' summer CIS course as a refresher on the latest in computer technology." Dropout Gates Drops In To Talk. By Zachary M. Seward. The Harvard Crimson Online (February 27, 2004). "Harvard’s most famous dropout returned to his alma mater yesterday, imploring students to pursue computer science—and stay in school. Bill Gates, Class of 1977, who withdrew from the College in his junior year and never looked back, addressed a full house in Lowell Lecture Hall last night. He touted the advantages of careers in computing and teased his audience with prototypes of Microsoft’s nascent technology. 'The holy grail of computer science is artificial intelligence,' Gates told the crowd of mostly engineering and applied science students." Turing is from Mars, Shannon is from Venus - Computer Science and Computer Engineering. By S.W. Smith, Dartmouth College. IEEE Security & Privacy (March 2005; Vol. 3, No. 2: 66-69). "Within universities, distinguishing the computer science department from the computer engineering department can be tricky. At my undergraduate institution, the two programs came from the same ancestor, electrical engineering and computer science. At Dartmouth College, however, computer science emerged from the mathematics department. ... However murky the organizational roots, each discipline takes its own distinctive approach to computer and computation problems. At a very coarse (and, hence, wrong) granularity, computer science looks at computation as an abstract, almost mathematical process, drawing from thinkers such as Alan Turing on the fundamental nature of computation; computer engineering considers the physical systems that realize this process, holding up Claude Shannon’s work on the fundamental nature of information." Interview with Peter Denning on the Great Principles of Computing. Ubiquity (June 5, 2007; Volume 8, Issue 22). "UBIQUITY: How much success do you think you've had advocating that computing is a science? DENNING: I find little argument with the claim that computing is engineering, but skepticism toward the claim that computing is science. In the past few years there has been a sea change on the science claim. The skeptics are coming around. ... UBIQUITY: Why do you feel the science claim is important? Some people might wonder what difference does it really make. Could it perhaps be a distinction without an important difference? ... UBIQUITY: So your project is really about developing a new language for discussing computing? DENNING: Yes. That's a nice way of putting it. ... UBIQUITY: What will Ubiquity readers find when they follow the link we give them, which is http://cs.gmu.edu/cne/pjd/GP ? DENNING: They will find a complete description of the Great Principles of Computing Project. In addition to the project overview, readers will find a taxonomy of principles in seven categories, narrative overviews of each category, a set of top-level principles for each category, detailed expansions of each principle, an analysis of new uses of the new body of knowledge, a discussion of a Great Principles Library, links to partner projects, and answers to FAQ (frequently asked questions). ... " Related Web SitesACM K-12 Task Force - Committee on K-12 Computing Curriculum: "The Committee’s charge is to develop a new model curriculum for K-12 computer science that is accessible to all students. This model curriculum focuses on high school computer science but also takes K-8 concerns into consideration as well as standards for computer science teachers." Their final report, A Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science, can be accessed from this page. "The Computer Science Teachers Association is a membership organization that supports and promotes the teaching of computer science and computer science concepts by providing opportunities for teachers and students to better understand the discipline and to more successfully prepare themselves to teach and to learn." Computing Careers from ACM: "Welcome! In all likelihood, you have come to this site to find out more about the exciting field of computing." Be sure to download their Cool Careers brochure. "The Joint IEEE Computer Society/ACM Task Force on the 'Model Curricula for Computing' (CC) was formed to review the 1991 curricula and develop a revised and enhanced version that addresses developments in computing technologies in the past decade and will sustain through the next decade."
World Lecture Hall Computer Science collection. Based at The University of Texas at Austin's Center for Instructional Technologies (a unit of the Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment), "World Lecture Hall publishes links to pages created by faculty worldwide who are using the Web to deliver course materials in any language. Some courses are delivered entirely over the Internet. Others are designed for students in residence. Many fall somewhere in between. In all cases, they can be visited by anyone interested in courseware on the Internet --- faculty, developers, and curious students alike"
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