A history of computing course with a technical focus

Many courses on the history of computing are designed for a general student audience, and as such, include fewer technical details than one might find in a typical CS course. While this approach is appropriate in some contexts, it risks losing the interest of the students who could perhaps benefit m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:SIGCSE bulletin 2009-04, Vol.41 (1), p.458-462
Main Authors: Draper, Geoffrey M., Kessler, Robert R., Riesenfeld, Richard F.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Many courses on the history of computing are designed for a general student audience, and as such, include fewer technical details than one might find in a typical CS course. While this approach is appropriate in some contexts, it risks losing the interest of the students who could perhaps benefit most from the subject-namely, future computer scientists. This paper describes a technically-oriented History of Computing course which we taught at the University of Utah in 2008. Like other History of Computing courses, ours included a significant amount of writing and discussion. However, inasmuch as our course was created specifically for CS students, we also incorporated several "hands-on" programming exercises and demonstrations, giving students actual experience with the computing environments of the past. Students and faculty alike have responded enthusiastically to this dual-faceted approach.
ISSN:0097-8418
DOI:10.1145/1539024.1509024