Article

Food-first computer science: starting the first course right with PB&J

Authors:

Janet Davis,

Samuel A. RebelskyAuthors Info & Claims

SIGCSE '07: Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education

Pages 372 - 376

https://doi.org/10.1145/1227310.1227440

Published: 07 March 2007 Publication History

Get Access

Abstract

We consider in some depth a common exercise for the first session of a typical introductory computer science course: The task of writing instructions to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The exercise, although simple, can engage students and motivate a variety of topics important throughout the semester. We discuss reasons to use such an exercise on the first day of class, present lessons students can learn from the exercise, and give practical advice for the instructor who wishes to make the most of this exercise.

References

[1]

Bouvier, D. J. 2003. Pilot study: Living flowcharts in an introduction to programming course. In Proceedings of the 34th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Reno, Navada, USA, February 19-23, 2003). SIGCSE '03. ACM Press, New York, NY, 293-295. DOI= http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/611892.611991

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[2]

Elson, D. K. and Thomas, J. Computer science, hold the computer: Designing optimal algorithms for creating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Published by Technology Integration Partnerships, Columbia University. Accessed September 7, 2006 at http://tip.columbia.edu/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=54

Google Scholar

[3]

Fellows, M., Bell, T. and Witten, I. 2002. Computer Science Unplugged.

Google Scholar

[4]

Lewandowski, G. and Morehead, A. 1998. Computer science through the eyes of dead monkeys: Learning styles and interaction in CS I. In Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Atlanta, Georgia, United States, February 26 - March 01, 1998). D. Joyce and J. Impagliazzo, Eds. SIGCSE '98. ACM Press, New York, NY, 312--316. DOI= http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/273133.274319

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[5]

Matocha, J., Camp, T., and Hooper, R. 1998. Extended analogy: An alternative lecture method. In Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (Atlanta, Georgia, United States, February 26-March 01, 1998). D. Joyce and J. Impagliazzo, Eds. SIGCSE '98. ACM Press, New York, NY, 312--316. DOI = http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/273133.274309

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[6]

McKeachie, W. and Svinkicki, M. 2005. McKeachie's Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research And Theory for College And University Teachers, 14th ed. Houghton Mifflin.

Google Scholar

[7]

Ollis, C. D. 1995. Computing with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. In The Educator's Reference Desk. Information Institute of Syracuse. Accessed September 7, 2006 at http://www.eduref.org/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Process_Skills/SPS0013.html

Google Scholar

[8]

Schneider, G. M. and Gersting, J. L. 1995. An Invitation to Computer Science. 1st. West Publishing Co.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[9]

Walker, H. M. 2001. Teaching and a sense of the dramatic. SIGCSE Bull. 33, 4 (Dec. 2001), 16--17. DOI= http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/572139.572152

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[10]

Walker, H. M. 2002. Teaching and a sense of the dramatic: act II. SIGCSE Bull. 34, 4 (Dec. 2002), 18--19. DOI= http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/820127.820144

Digital Library

Google Scholar

Cited By

View all

Goldweber MKaczmarczyk LBlumenthal RClear ABlumenthal JMerkle LDoyle MSheard JSoh LDorn B(2022)A Hands-On Tutorial on How To Incorporate Computing for Social Good in the Introductory Course SequenceProceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 210.1145/3478432.3499034(1039-1040)Online publication date: 3-Mar-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3478432.3499034
Spezialetti MSchulte CBecker BDivitini MBarendsen E(2021)Beyond the Coder and the Code: An Exercise Structure for Fostering a People-Centered Problem-Solving Perspective with Video ScenariosProceedings of the 26th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 210.1145/3456565.3460055(657-657)Online publication date: 26-Jun-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3456565.3460055
Goldweber MKaczmarczyk LBlumenthal R(2019)Computing for the social good in educationACM Inroads10.1145/336820610:4(24-29)Online publication date: 15-Nov-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3368206
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Food-first computer science: starting the first course right with PB&J
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing education programs
        Computer science education
      2. Computing literacy

Recommendations

Food-first computer science: starting the first course right with PB&J

We consider in some depth a common exercise for the first session of a typical introductory computer science course: The task of writing instructions to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The exercise, although simple, can engage students and ...
Integrating computer science into middle school mathematics (abstract only)
SIGCSE '13: Proceeding of the 44th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education

Our project is part of the Adventures in Alice Programming project at Duke University. In particular, our project is integrating computer science into middle school math using Alice. We show several ways for students to improve their math skills while ...
Integrating computer science and mathematics in middle school with alice (abstract only)
SIGCSE '14: Proceedings of the 45th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education

The Adventures in Alice Programming project at Duke University has created a variety of Alice curriculum materials for integrating computer science into other disciplines at the K-12 level, focusing on both computer science topics and animation topics. ...

Comments

Please enable JavaScript to view thecomments powered by Disqus.

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

SIGCSE '07: Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education

March 2007

634 pages

ISBN:1595933611

DOI:10.1145/1227310

General Chairs:
Ingrid Russell
University of Hartford
,
Susan Haller
SUNY Potsdam
,
Program Chairs:
J. D. Dougherty
Haverford College
,
Susan Rodger
Duke University

ACM SIGCSE Bulletin Volume 39, Issue 1
March 2007
581 pages
ISSN:0097-8418
DOI:10.1145/1227504
Issue’s Table of Contents

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 07 March 2007

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Article

Conference

SIGCSE07

Sponsor:

SIGCSE07: The 38th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

March 7 - 11, 2007

Kentucky, Covington, USA

Acceptance Rates

Overall Acceptance Rate 1,595 of 4,542 submissions, 35%

Upcoming Conference

SIGCSE Virtual 2024

Sponsor:
sigcse

1st ACM Virtual Global Computing Education Conference

December 5 - 8, 2024

Virtual Event , NC , USA

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

26
Total Citations
View Citations
834
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)13
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)0

Reflects downloads up to 22 Nov 2024

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

View all

Goldweber MKaczmarczyk LBlumenthal RClear ABlumenthal JMerkle LDoyle MSheard JSoh LDorn B(2022)A Hands-On Tutorial on How To Incorporate Computing for Social Good in the Introductory Course SequenceProceedings of the 53rd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 210.1145/3478432.3499034(1039-1040)Online publication date: 3-Mar-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3478432.3499034
Spezialetti MSchulte CBecker BDivitini MBarendsen E(2021)Beyond the Coder and the Code: An Exercise Structure for Fostering a People-Centered Problem-Solving Perspective with Video ScenariosProceedings of the 26th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 210.1145/3456565.3460055(657-657)Online publication date: 26-Jun-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3456565.3460055
Goldweber MKaczmarczyk LBlumenthal R(2019)Computing for the social good in educationACM Inroads10.1145/336820610:4(24-29)Online publication date: 15-Nov-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3368206
Miller CSettle A(2019)Learning to Get LiteralACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/331329119:3(1-17)Online publication date: 29-May-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3313291
Rankin YThomas JIrish IHawthorne EPérez-Quiñones MHeckman SZhang J(2019)Food for ThoughtProceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education10.1145/3287324.3287484(641-646)Online publication date: 22-Feb-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3287324.3287484
Goldweber M(2018)Strategies for Adopting CSG-Ed In CS 12018 Research on Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT)10.1109/RESPECT.2018.8491703(1-2)Online publication date: Feb-2018
https://doi.org/10.1109/RESPECT.2018.8491703
Lazar JFeng JHochheiser H(2017)Interviews and focus groupsResearch Methods in Human Computer Interaction10.1016/B978-0-12-805390-4.00008-X(187-228)Online publication date: 2017
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-805390-4.00008-X
Miller C(2014)Metonymy and reference-point errors in novice programmingComputer Science Education10.1080/08993408.2014.95250024:2-3(123-152)Online publication date: 5-Sep-2014
https://doi.org/10.1080/08993408.2014.952500
Zuhud DCosta CAparicio M(2013)Some prospective approaches for the shift of programming paradigmsProceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Information Systems and Design of Communication10.1145/2503859.2503873(87-93)Online publication date: 11-Jul-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2503859.2503873
Adams ARogers WFisk A(2013)Skill components of task analysisInstructional Science10.1007/s11251-013-9270-941:6(1009-1046)Online publication date: 20-Feb-2013
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-013-9270-9
Show More Cited By

View Options

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Cited By

Index Terms

Recommendations

Food-first computer science: starting the first course right with PB&J

Integrating computer science into middle school mathematics (abstract only)

Integrating computer science and mathematics in middle school with alice (abstract only)