Current requirements for a major (page 83 of current catalog)

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1 To present the proposal of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science for changing the requirements for a major in Computer Science, we first describe the current major requirements followed by the proposed major requirements. We will end with the proposed changes accompanied by justifications. Current requirements for a major (page 83 of current catalog) Program Requirements, 75 credits Major Courses, 43 credits CSC 120 Introduction to Programming Methodology CSC 130 Program Design and Implementation CSC 201 Basic Computer Organization and Assembly Language CSC 220 Data Structures and Algorithms CSC 403 Social, Ethical, and Professional Issues (1 credit) CSC Restricted Electives, 30 credits Six (6) credits from CSC 200 or above Twelve (12) credits from CSC 300 or above Twelve (12) credits from CSC 400 or above Mathematic/Statistics Courses, 17 credits MATH 142 Calculus with Analytic geometry I (4 credits) MATH 241 Calculus with Analytic geometry II (4 credits) MATH 250 Discrete Mathematics II MATH 251 Linear Algebra STAT 202 Basic Probability and Statistics Choose six credits from the following: MATH 242 Calculus with Analytic geometry III (4 credits) MATH 300 level or above CSC 300 level or above PHYS 200 level or above STAT 300 level or above Electives, 9 credits - Electives are open with approval of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. file:///c /Documents%20and%20Settings/shesseltine/Desktop/faculty_senate/ /mathHouseproposal.htm (1 of 5)2/12/2010 5:09:21 PM

2 Proposed requirements for a major Program Requirements, 71 credits Major Courses, 48 credits CSC 120 Introduction to Programming Methodology CSC 130 Program Design and Implementation CSC 201 Basic Computer Organization and Assembly Language CSC 206 Functional Programming * CSC 207 Logic Programming * CSC 220 Data Structures and Algorithms CSC 350 Teaching of Computer Science, 2 credits (This is a variable credit course, 1 to 3 per semester) CSC 403 Social, Ethical, and Professional Issues (1 credit) CSC 421 Programming Languages CSC 473 Computer Architecture and Parallel Processing I CSC 490 Senior Project CSC Restricted Electives, 18 credits Three (3) credits from CSC 200 or above Twelve (12) credits from CSC 300 or above Three (3) credits from CSC 400 or above Mathematic/Statistics Courses, 17 credits MATH 142 Calculus with Analytic geometry I (4 credits) MATH 241 Calculus with Analytic geometry II (4 credits) MATH 250 Discrete Mathematics II MATH 251 Linear Algebra STAT 202 Basic Probability and Statistics Choose six credits from the following: MATH 242 Calculus with Analytic geometry III (4 credits) MATH 300 level or above CSC 300 level or above PHYS 200 level or above STAT 300 level or above file:///c /Documents%20and%20Settings/shesseltine/Desktop/faculty_senate/ /mathHouseproposal.htm (2 of 5)2/12/2010 5:09:21 PM

3 CHANGES and JUSTIFICATIONS We begin by presenting selected criteria from ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) that will help justify our proposal. Computer Science Synopsis of the ABET Criteria for Accrediting Computing Programs IV 5. All students must take a broad based core of fundamental computer science material consisting of at least 16 semester hours. IV 6. The core materials must provide basic coverage of algorithms, data structures, software design, concepts of programming languages, and computer organization and architecture. IV 7. Theoretical foundations, problem analysis, and solution design must be stressed within the program's core materials. IV 8. Students must be exposed to a variety of programming languages and systems and must become proficient in at least one higher level language. IV 9. All students must take at least 16 semester hours of advanced course work in computer science that provides breadth and builds on the core to provide depth. Mathematics and Science IV 12. The curriculum must include at least 12 semester hours of science. IV 13. Course work in science must include the equivalent of a two semester sequence in a laboratory science for science or engineering majors. file:///c /Documents%20and%20Settings/shesseltine/Desktop/faculty_senate/ /mathHouseproposal.htm (3 of 5)2/12/2010 5:09:21 PM

4 First change Add CSC 206 and CSC 207 to the list of required courses Justification: These two courses were not listed in this place earlier because they would have been added by changing prerequisites as follows: CSC 421 current prerequisites: CSC 201, CSC 220, MATH 250, and either CSC 206 or CSC 207 CSC 421 proposed prerequisites: CSC 201, CSC 220, MATH 250, CSC 206 and CSC 207 Justification for changing CSC 421 prerequisites: This will help us meet ABET criteria IV-8 and experience teaching CSC 421 suggests this change will better prepare our students to understand the somewhat difficult material in CSC 421. Second change Add CSC 350 to the list of required courses Justification: Teaching (in the case of CSC helping students in introductory courses) helps one learn basic concepts. ABET does not address this. Note that we also propose to change the title of this course to Service Learning. Third change Add CSC 421, CSC 473 and CSC 490 to the list of required courses Justification: We must add one course to the list of required courses to meet ABET criterion IV-5, since the current list has only 13 credits. CSC 421: This will help us meet ABET criteria IV-6 and IV-8 CSC 473: This will help us meet ABET criterion IV-6 CSC 490: This will help us meet ABET criteria IV-7 and IV-9 Fourth change Change the required number of additional credits from the 200 file:///c /Documents%20and%20Settings/shesseltine/Desktop/faculty_senate/ /mathHouseproposal.htm (4 of 5)2/12/2010 5:09:21 PM

5 level or above from 6 to 3, and change the required number of additional credits from the 400 level or above from 12 to 3. Justification: We added two courses (6 credits) at the 200 level (CSC 206 and CSC 207) to the list of required courses. We also added three courses (9 credits) at the 400 level (CSC 421, CSC 473 and CSC 490) to the list of required courses. Fifth change Decrease the number of credits for program requirements from 75 to 71 Justification: The drop from 75 credits (current) to 71 credits (proposed) is necessitated by the following proposed change in the science requirements for a computer science major: Sixth change Change the science requirements as follows: current science requirements: same as those for University College found on page 68 of the current catalog proposed science requirements: 12 hours of science to include one of the following sequences: PHYS 121, 122 CHEM 140, 160 BIOL 150, 200 BIOL 150, ZOOL 110 or 210 BIOL 150, ZOOL 210 and 230 (8 or 7 credits) (10 credits) Justification: This will help us meet ABET criteria IV-12 and IV-13 Seventh change The last change we propose is to change the title of CSC 350 to Service Learning (from Teaching of Computer Science). Justification: We feel that the new title provides a much more accurate description of the nature of the course. file:///c /Documents%20and%20Settings/shesseltine/Desktop/faculty_senate/ /mathHouseproposal.htm (5 of 5)2/12/2010 5:09:21 PM