Computer Science Curricula 2013
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Computer Science Curricula 2013 Strawman Draft (February 2012) The Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula Association for Computing Machinery IEEE-Computer Society CS2013 Steering Committee ACM Delegation IEEE-CS Delegation Mehran Sahami, Chair (Stanford University) Steve Roach, Chair (Univ. of Texas, El Paso) Andrea Danyluk (Williams College) Ernesto Cuadros-Vargas (Univ. Catolica San Pablo) Sally Fincher (University of Kent) Ronald Dodge (US Military Academy) Kathleen Fisher (Tufts University) Robert France (Colorado State University) Dan Grossman (University of Washington) Amruth Kumar (Ramapo Coll. of New Jersey) Beth Hawthorne (Union County College) Brian Robinson (ABB Corporation) Randy Katz (UC Berkeley) Remzi Seker (Univ. of Arkansas, Little Rock) Rich LeBlanc (Seattle University) Alfred Thompson (Microsoft) Dave Reed (Creighton University) - 2 - Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 5 Charter......................................................................................................................................... 6 High-level Themes ...................................................................................................................... 6 Knowledge Areas ........................................................................................................................ 7 Previous Input ............................................................................................................................. 8 Coming Attractions in CS2013 ................................................................................................... 9 Timeline .................................................................................................................................... 10 Exemplars of Curricula and Courses ........................................................................................ 10 Professional Practice ................................................................................................................. 11 Institutional Challenges ............................................................................................................ 11 Opportunities for Involvement .................................................................................................. 12 References ................................................................................................................................. 12 Acknowledgments..................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 2: Principles ..................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 3: Characteristics of Graduates ....................................................................................... 19 Chapter 4: Constructing a Complete Curriculum ......................................................................... 22 Knowledge Areas are Not Necessarily Courses (and Important Examples Thereof) ............... 23 Tier-1 Core, Tier-2 Core, Elective: What These Terms Mean, What is Required ................... 24 Further Considerations .............................................................................................................. 26 - 3 - Chapter 5: Introduction to the Body of Knowledge...................................................................... 28 Process for Updating the Body of Knowledge ......................................................................... 28 Overview of New Knowledge Areas ........................................................................................ 29 How to Read the Body of Knowledge ...................................................................................... 31 Appendix A: The Body of Knowledge ......................................................................................... 35 Algorithms and Complexity (AL) ............................................................................................. 35 Architecture and Organization (AR) ......................................................................................... 42 Computational Science (CN) .................................................................................................... 48 Discrete Structures (DS) ........................................................................................................... 55 Graphics and Visualization (GV).............................................................................................. 61 Human-Computer Interaction (HC) .......................................................................................... 68 Information Assurance and Security (IAS)............................................................................... 76 Information Management (IM) ................................................................................................. 87 Intelligent Systems (IS)............................................................................................................. 95 Networking and Communication (NC) ................................................................................... 105 Operating Systems (OS) ......................................................................................................... 109 Platform-Based Development (PBD) ..................................................................................... 116 Parallel and Distributed Computing (PD) ............................................................................... 119 Programming Languages (PL) ................................................................................................ 128 Software Development Fundamentals (SDF) ......................................................................... 138 Software Engineering (SE) ..................................................................................................... 143 Systems Fundamentals (SF) .................................................................................................... 157 Social and Professional Practice (SP) ..................................................................................... 163 - 4 - 1 Chapter 1: Introduction 2 Continuing a process that began over 40 years ago with the publication of Curriculum 68 [1], the 3 major professional societies in computing—ACM and IEEE-Computer Society—have sponsored 4 efforts to establish international curricular guidelines for undergraduate programs in computing 5 on roughly a 10-year cycle. As the field of computing has grown and diversified, so too have the 6 curricular recommendations, and there are now curricular volumes for Computer Engineering, 7 Information Systems, Information Technology, and Software Engineering in addition to 8 Computer Science [3]. These volumes are updated regularly with the aim of keeping computing 9 curricula modern and relevant. The last complete Computer Science curricular volume was 10 released in 2001 (CC2001) [2], and an interim review effort concluded in 2008 (CS2008) [4]. 11 This volume, Computer Science Curricula 2013 (CS2013), represents a comprehensive revision. 12 CS2013 redefines the knowledge units in CS, rethinking the essentials necessary for a Computer 13 Science curriculum. It also seeks to identify exemplars of actual courses and programs to 14 provide concrete guidance on curricular structure and development in a variety of institutional 15 contexts. 16 The development of curricular guidelines for Computer Science is particularly challenging given 17 the rapid evolution and expansion of the field: material dates fast. Moreover, the growing 18 diversity of topics in Computer Science and the increasing integration of computing with other 19 disciplines create additional challenges. Balancing topical growth with the need to keep 20 recommendations realistic and implementable in the context of undergraduate education is 21 particularly difficult. As a result, it is important to engage the broader computer science 22 education community in a dialog to better understand new opportunities, local needs, and to 23 identify successful models of computing curriculum – whether established or novel. One aim of 24 this Strawman report is to provide the basis for such engagement, by providing an early draft of 25 the CS2013 volume that can be scrutinized by members of the computing community with the 26 goal of augmenting and refining the final report. 27 28 Charter 29 The ACM and IEEE-Computer Society chartered the CS2013 effort with the following directive: 30 To review the Joint ACM and IEEE-CS Computer Science volume of 31 Computing Curricula 2001 and the accompanying interim review CS 2008, 32 and develop a revised and enhanced version for the year 2013 that will match 33 the latest developments in the discipline and have lasting impact. 34 The CS2013 task force will seek input from a diverse audience with the goal of 35 broadening participation in computer science. The report will seek to be 36 international in scope and offer curricular and pedagogical guidance 37 applicable to a wide range of institutions. The process of producing the final 38 report will include multiple opportunities for public consultation and scrutiny. 39 Consequently, the CS2013 task force welcomes review of, and comment on, this draft report. 40 High-level Themes 41 In developing CS2013, several high-level themes provided an overarching