Wow, I'm sure supposed to learn a lot about Computer Science here at Brown. This article gave me a good indication that what we have to learn is fairly extensive and that there really is a method to the madness in the order in which we take our classes and what we deem necessary to learn. What does that mean for an introductory course? In our class we currently introduce programming, but we fail in discussing some of the more abstract aspects of computer science.

This leads me to the question of our motives for CS15. How much of our goal should be giving a rounded introduction to the world of computer science, and how much should be trying to bring people into that world. It is no secret that we put a lot of work into making the class enjoyable for students. Without that effort we believe the class could become boring, yet have the same amount work for the students, meaning they would have much less of a desire to take or complete the class. Are we doing students a disservice by having a class that is so different than the rest of the department?

I have spoken to people who thought that CS 15 was a good class, but were warned by upper-classmen to beware, the rest of the classes won't be this much fun. How many CS16 students feel thoroughly let down after the extravaganza that we put on in 15. It is the glamour that keeps the class going as well as it does. The class we teach is fun and educational, but does it fit in entirely with the introduction to computer science model? Keep in mind that it is titled Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming, but it is still the introduction to the department. As much as we love the class, we need to keep in mind that first and foremost it is to give students the beginning of what they will need to continue in this field.

MY COMMENTS: I agree that the glitz and glamour of CS015 do give some students a skewed view of the department. Some students think that all CS classes will be like CS015, but is that really the reason they decide to continue in the department? I don't know many peopl e who would major in a subject just because lectures were funny. CS015 shows that CS can be fun, and it gets people interested in the subject matter. If you end up losing a few people to the fact that the rest of the courses aren't as funny or glitzy, you have lost the people who would have never even tried CS if it weren't for CS015. This, however, is more than made up for by all the people that CS015 gets interested in the department.

While I agree that CS15 had lots of glitz and glamour, I don't think that students expect that from other classes. But I still was very, very, very disappointed with 16...

Personally, I think the glitz and glammor just eases the pain of how difficult the course is...