Article

Informatics: a focus on computer science in context

Authors:

David G. Kay,

André van der Hoek,

Debra J. RichardsonAuthors Info & Claims

SIGCSE '05: Proceedings of the 36th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education

Pages 551 - 555

https://doi.org/10.1145/1047344.1047515

Published: 23 February 2005 Publication History

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Abstract

Because the field of computer science has broadened so much in recent years, traditional degree programs are becoming crowded with new courses, each introducing its own "essential" topic. However, with more and more such courses, it is no longer possible to cover every topic in a single, coherent, four-year program. Many alternative approaches are available to address this situation. At UC Irvine, we have chosen a solution in which we offer four coordinated degree programs: a B.S. in Computer Science & Engineering, a conventional B.S. in Computer Science, a new B.S. in Informatics, and a broad overview B.S. in Information and Computer Science. Of these, the B.S. in Informatics is the most innovative, focusing on software and information design. Context plays a particularly strong role in our B.S. in Informatics: Placing software development in context is critical to the delivery of successful solutions, and we educate our students accordingly. We present our definition of informatics, detail our curriculum, describe its pedagogical characteristics and objectives, and conclude with some critical observations regarding informatics and its place in computer science education.

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University of Washington Information School, B.S. of Science in Informatics, http://www.ischool.washington.edu.

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York College of Pennsylvania, B.S. of Informatics, http://www.ycp.edu/academics/.

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Montclair State University Department of Computer Science, B.S. in Science Informatics, http://cs.montclair.edu/undergraduate.html.

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Indiana University School of Informatics, B.S. of Informatics, http://www.informatics.indiana.edu/.

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Cited By

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Bile Hassan ILiu J(2020)A Comparative Study of the Academic Programs between Informatics/BioInformatics and Data Science in the U.S.2020 IEEE 44th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference (COMPSAC)10.1109/COMPSAC48688.2020.00030(165-171)Online publication date: Jul-2020
https://doi.org/10.1109/COMPSAC48688.2020.00030
Baker Avan der Hoek A(2009)An experience report on the design and delivery of two new software design coursesACM SIGCSE Bulletin10.1145/1539024.150904541:1(519-523)Online publication date: 4-Mar-2009
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1539024.1509045
Baker Avan der Hoek AFitzgerald SGuzdial MLewandowski GWolfman S(2009)An experience report on the design and delivery of two new software design coursesProceedings of the 40th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education10.1145/1508865.1509045(519-523)Online publication date: 4-Mar-2009
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1508865.1509045
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Index Terms

Informatics: a focus on computer science in context
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing education programs
        Computer science education
      2. Model curricula

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Informatics: a focus on computer science in context

Because the field of computer science has broadened so much in recent years, traditional degree programs are becoming crowded with new courses, each introducing its own "essential" topic. However, with more and more such courses, it is no longer ...
Extending undergraduate CS programs with informatics: emphasizing software and system design in context

In this poster we describe the diversification of our undergraduate curricula in the computing disciplines at UC Irvine, in particular the creation of Bachelor of Science degree in Informatics.

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Information

Published In

SIGCSE '05: Proceedings of the 36th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education

February 2005

610 pages

ISBN:1581139977

DOI:10.1145/1047344

Conference Chairs:
Wanda Dann
Ithaca College
,
Tom Naps
University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh
,
Program Chairs:
Paul Tymann
Rochester Institute of Technology
,
Doug Baldwin
SUNY Geneseo

ACM SIGCSE Bulletin Volume 37, Issue 1
2005
562 pages
ISSN:0097-8418
DOI:10.1145/1047124
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]

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 23 February 2005

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SIGCSE05: Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

February 23 - 27, 2005

Missouri, St. Louis, USA

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

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Cited By

View all

Bile Hassan ILiu J(2020)A Comparative Study of the Academic Programs between Informatics/BioInformatics and Data Science in the U.S.2020 IEEE 44th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference (COMPSAC)10.1109/COMPSAC48688.2020.00030(165-171)Online publication date: Jul-2020
https://doi.org/10.1109/COMPSAC48688.2020.00030
Baker Avan der Hoek A(2009)An experience report on the design and delivery of two new software design coursesACM SIGCSE Bulletin10.1145/1539024.150904541:1(519-523)Online publication date: 4-Mar-2009
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1539024.1509045
Baker Avan der Hoek AFitzgerald SGuzdial MLewandowski GWolfman S(2009)An experience report on the design and delivery of two new software design coursesProceedings of the 40th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education10.1145/1508865.1509045(519-523)Online publication date: 4-Mar-2009
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1508865.1509045
Kriglstein S(2008)Analysis of Ontology Visualization Techniques for Modular CurriculaProceedings of the 4th Symposium of the Workgroup Human-Computer Interaction and Usability Engineering of the Austrian Computer Society on HCI and Usability for Education and Work10.1007/978-3-540-89350-9_21(299-312)Online publication date: 20-Nov-2008
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/978-3-540-89350-9_21
Buitrago Flórez FCasallas RHernández MReyes ARestrepo SDanies G(2017)Changing a Generation’s Way of Thinking: Teaching Computational Thinking Through ProgrammingReview of Educational Research10.3102/003465431771009687:4(834-860)Online publication date: 23-May-2017
https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654317710096
Mezick EKoenig M(2009)Education for information scienceAnnual Review of Information Science and Technology10.1002/aris.2008.144042012042:1(593-624)Online publication date: 5-Nov-2009
https://doi.org/10.1002/aris.2008.1440420120

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Extending undergraduate CS programs with informatics: emphasizing software and system design in context

Informatics: a focus on computer science in context

Extending undergraduate CS programs with informatics: emphasizing software and system design in context