John Impagliazzo, Editor
Inroads: The SIGCSE Bulletin
Association for Computing Machinery
P.O. Box 12115
Church Street Station, NY, NY, 10249

Dear Editors:

Enclosed please find my report on the current trend in computer literacy education and the room for improvement in college computer literacy curricula.

I am a senior computer science student at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. As a student, I have become familiar with many aspects of the relationship between computers and modern society. In addition to my studies, I have worked at the support desk for one of the University networks, in campus computer laboratories, and as a UNIX system administrator at the Harvard Law School.

My paper examines deficiencies in the format and methodology of computer literacy courses as they have developed at various institutions. The importance of training future workers to reach an advanced degree of capability is stressed throughout the discussion. A variety of research has been done which shows that encouraging the student to think reflectively about what he/she is doing results in increases in overall comprehension as well as problem solving and adaptability.

First, computer literacy curricula developers need to make a distinction between learning how the computer operates and learning how to use software in their course material. Then, assignments and lectures should be designed to encourage the student to plan the tasks to reach a project goal, reflect on the functions they use, and experiment with new functions to achieve innovative results.

There has not been much research done into the increased importance of computer literacy education and the heightened computing and thinking skills the student needs in order to be prepared for the proficient use of computers in the career world. My paper is an attempt to begin that very discussion, and encourage educators to enhance their computer literacy programs to significantly meet this goal.

Sincerely,

Keith D. Tyler