Media Computation as a Motivation and Structure for a Non-Majors CS1 Class: "Data-First" Computing

该提案所解决的问题是，大量学生，尤其是非计算机科学专业的学生和女性，对计算机科学不感兴趣。这在像佐治亚理工学院这样需要计算机入门课程的机构中是一个特别的问题。针对非计算机科学专业学生的媒体计算导论的原型课程将被使用。理由是，这些受众最感兴趣的是通过计算来操纵他们感兴趣的数据。在本课程中，我们将采用数据优先的方法，根据学生感兴趣的数据的创建、操作和转换进行计算。在GIT，非计算机科学专业的学生经常在英语和其他通信课程中使用多媒体。关于计算机领域性别问题的文献表明，女性寻求以应用为导向的计算机科学和使自己具有创造力的任务。媒体计算方法解决了这些需求。本课程的基本前提是：所有媒体都在向数字格式转变；使用软件操纵数字媒体；学习控制计算，包括编程，就变成了一种沟通技巧。该项目的产品将包括：课程结构、讲座幻灯片和课程笔记，以支持此类课程；支持这门课程的技术，包括学生开发环境、媒体操作工具和适合新手程序员的跨平台多媒体API；和评估结果，重点是保留，动机和学习。

The problem addressed by this proposal is the disinterest in computer science exhibited by large groups of students, especially non CS majors and women. This is a particular problem at institutions like Georgia Tech where an introductory computing course is required. A prototype course in Introduction to Media Computation aimed at non CS majors will be utilized. The argument is that these audiences are most interested in computing to manipulate data of interest to them. A data first approach where computing in terms of creation, manipulation, and transformation of data of interest to students is implemented in this course. At GIT, non CS majors are often manipulating multimedia in English and other communications classes. Literature on gender issues in computing suggests that women seek an applications oriented focus to computer science and assignments that lend themselves to creativity. The media computation approach addresses these needs. The base premises for the course are: all media are moving to a digital format; digital media are manipulated using software; and learning to control computation, including programming, then becomes a communications skill. The products of this project will include: A course structure, lecture slides, and course notes in support of such a class; technology to support such a course, including a student development environment, media manipulation tools, and a cross-platform multimedia API appropriate for novice programmers; and evaluation results, focusing on retention, motivation, and learning.