While the specific implementations which the paper describes do not appeal particularly, the main idea that theory, abstraction and design should be the basis for any introductory course.

The idea that theory should be a primary part of an introductory course is particularly interesting. Should students really be exposed to the theory behind cs at such an early stage? This article went a long way in convincing me, but the real test will come next year at Brown, and I'm interested if other schools have tried something similar to the proposed 17-18 sequence.

The other area where I think that 15 is lacking is in design. While it is dictated as an important area of the class. I think it's too easy to get through without ever learning to design. There have been a few excellent ideas for imporving the design portion of the course which have come up in discussion. See the Homework Reflection for an interesting idea of an interactive design forumn.

Another failing of cs15 which this paper has brought to light is the lack of integration between the three main goals. Abstraction is separate from design in a lot of ways, and theory is almost completely unseen.

This paper raises a few interesting points about cs education which could be applied to cs15 to make it a better overall course.