Introduction To CPSC 231

Notes for the required material 

The main purpose of this section is to get students "up and running" for this course.  Consequently the course instructor should provide information on all the details required to use the Computer Science network computers (see "Teaching Tips" below).  A "hands-on" approach that actually allows students to complete useful tasks (e.g., login in, viewing and printing files, etc) is often a good idea but this can be done in the tutorials.  The second part of this section, Introduction to Computer Science is meant to provide a brief introduction into the different areas of Computer Science.  Lectures need not cover all the areas listed in the notes.  However it is highly recommended that they do be tailored to match the areas of research in the department.  The final part of this section is a brief introduction into computers: the hardware behind the machine.  Since this is the first introductory course into Computer Science, it is only appropriate that students get an idea what are the basic components of a computer as well as what is going on inside of it.   

•     These notes can be purchased in the Student Union Copy Center at cost
•     Introduction to this course and to Computer Science: [PowerPoint] [Acrobat]
•     Introduction to Computers (Leestma & Nyhoff Section 1.2): [PowerPoint] [Acrobat]

Optional teaching material

• Unix: If there is sufficient time then the instructor may wish to expand upon some of the Unix concepts taught by lab instructor.   This can include some of the less common (but still useful) utilities such as 'Grep' or 'Find'
• History of Computing:  Again another important area but I due to time constraints I have listed under the optional rather than the required section.  If the instructor has time to cover this material then I have some slides that I used from CPSC 203 that may be used: [CPSC 203 history of computers]
• 2020, by Apple Inc. (~1992, distributed with the video set from the Apple Developer's Conference).  It exposes students some futuristic technologies and can be useful for getting a class discussion going about things that people have been envisioned but cannot be built yet.
• A Halloween Pumpkin Phidget with Chester Fitchett, video by Saul Greenberg.  It's a fun video that shows how a student in the department, Chester Fitchett, took some his research (dealing with "Phidget's") during a department Halloween party.   I sometimes show this video as a lead-in when I talk about the different areas of research in Computer Science.  (While Computer Science is a lot of work it can be fun too!)   If there is time I may also show some videos that show some actual undergraduate student projects built using Phidgets.  Since the purpose of these demonstrations is to expose new Computer Science students to some of the neat projects that have actually been built it is important that actual student projects be shown.

Background / Sources of additional information

Unlike the other sections for these course notes I don't have a formal list of academic references because I built up much of the material by teaching first year students over the years.  However, I do have a few sources that the instructor (or the keen student who is reading this) can go to for more information:

• Computer Science Illuminated by Dale N. and Lewis J. (Jones and Bartlett Computer Science).  This book provides an excellent summarized "bird's-eye" view of some of the topics that many undergraduate Computer Science programs will cover.
• The research link for the University of Calgary's Computer Science department.  From here I was able to follow the links to the different research labs in the department to get a quick idea of the latest hot research that was going on.
• Some of the other resources that I drew as background for the different research areas in Computer Science include:
  • The course notes for CPSC 481(Human-Computer Interaction I): http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tamj/481/
  • The course notes for CPSC 203 (Introduction to Computers - the non-majors introductory course - an alternative way of presenting the introductory concepts (http://pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/~tamj/2002/203)
  • The web site for Isys Information Architects Inc (http://www.iarchitect.com) , which contains volumes of information on robust and usable computer systems as well as many examples of good (in the HCI hall of fame http://www.iarchitect.com/mfame.htm) and bad designs (in the H.C.I. hall of shame http://www.iarchitect.com/mshame.htm)
  • Interactive Computer Graphics: A top-down approach with OpenGL by Angel E. (Addison-Wesley).  The Introductory chapters provides a good overview of the area of Computer Graphics.
  • Readings in Information Visualization: Using Vision to Think by Card S.K., MacKinlay J.D. and Shneiderman B. (Morgan Kaufmann Publishers).   Not only does this book discuss in-depth some of the interesting research conducted in the area of Information Visualization, but it also provides many references that the reader can go to for addition information. 
  • Artificial Intelligence A Modern Approach by Russell S. and Norvig P. (Prentice Hall).  Although much of this book covers material that goes far beyond the scope of an introductory Computer Science class the beginning chapters provide a good starting point for learning about the field of Artificial Intelligence.
  • Practical Computer Vision Using C by Parker J.R. (Wiley Professional Computing).  A good introductory book about Computer Vision.
  • Computers in your future by Pfaffenberger B. (Prentice Hall).  Although this book is targeted more towards a non-major's introductory Computer Science class, this book provides good explanations and illustrations of the basic parts of a computer). 
  • How stuff works: www.howstuffworks.com.  A great site not only for simple explanations of not only computer-related technology but most anything you can think of (from TV's to beer).
  • The geekshelter: http://www.geekshelter.com  Another technology-oriented site.
  • Tom's hardware: http://www.tomshardware.com  Yet another good technology-oriented site.
  • Computing Fundamentals by Norton P.  A good computer book that describes the fundamentals to beginners.
  • Computer Confluence: Exploring Tomorrow's Technology by Beekman G.  Another good book for beginners.

Teaching Tips

Note to the course instructor: This section is meant as a guide as to how to approach each section rather than a definitive cannon for how first year Computer Science courses should be taught.  Thus it can be used both as a starting point for new instructors and to provide a bit of insight for those with more experience as to why I arranged the notes the way that I did.

The introduction sets the stage for the rest of the course.  I usually begin by covering all of the administrative issues associated with the course which typically include: 

• Evaluation methods - how much weighting will be attached to each component of the course (exams, assignments etc) as well as how to calculate the overall final grade is calculated.
• Examinations - what type of exams will be held (multiple choice, code writing, code tracing).  For first year courses I usually have multiple choice midterms and a combination of multiple choice, code traces and writing of code for the final exam.
• Study tips - since many of the students in the class may be new to post secondary and Computer Science classes in particular I provide some general study approaches for this class.  Basically it boils down to this, Computer Science is very much a "hands-on" discipline.  While students will be exposed to many important concepts in lecture it is difficult to truly understand the concepts without application, which means that they should be writing code, preferably lots of it.   This may seem obvious and self-evident to the instructor but I have found some students that thought they could get by the course by only reading the textbook with only minimal time in front of the computer.  Finally I try to be upfront with students and indicate the high workload of the typical undergraduate student during their studies here (but also how much fun it can be too!  See the section on Additional teaching materials below).
• Miscellaneous organization issues - this includes information that second, third and fourth year students may take for granted but is essential and used on a daily basis.  I make a checklist at the beginning of each term (and bring it to class) to make sure that I don't miss anything important.  A typical list includes topics such as: where the computer labs are located, which computers are available for their use, what are the hours of operation of the lab, how are computer accounts set up and how do students get new accounts, what printers can they use and where do they pick up their print outs, where they can go for help with different issues (course-related, tech-related, online etc), how they can work from home.

After this I then lay out the foundations for the remainder of the term by briefly discussing what the area of Computer Science is all about and some of the different areas of research.   This is an important task because it is not only essential that students who have completed their first year have at least a rough idea of what Computer Science is about but also I have found that it helps them understand why they have to learn about some of things that they do during that initial year. Also I find that taking about some of the nifty research that is conducted at my university gets students excited and motivated about the area as well as educating them about the important work that is done here.  Finally a brief introduction about how and why things work the way they do in a computer (hardware and software) is in order for the introductory section.