Improving Undergraduate Programming Language Curriculum

Presented as part of the 2009 HCSS conference.

Abstract

In the past decade, the field of computer science has grown explosively. Unfortunately, undergraduate curriculum has not tracked these advances, and it urgently requires revision. Before tackling the overall curriculum, however, we must first consider the constituent subfields. In response, SIGPLAN and NSF sponsored a workshop in May 2008 to consider why teaching undergraduates about programming languages is important, what material should be in the curriculum, and how that material should be taught. In this talk, I will present the workshop findings, including a summary of the curricular recommendations, the rationale behind them, strategies for incorporating them into undergraduate curricula, and where we go from here.