Editor’s Remarks
J. Philip East
University of Northern Iowa
Good day to you. Here we have issue three of JCSE Online for 2004-05. This issue has two articles. Brief introductions and links to them are included below. Following that material I have some words about the future of JCSE Online.
In our first article, Tamar Paz and Orna Muller provide a description of a course offered at the high school level in Israel. We have had several articles by authors from Israel and they help us gain further insight into CS in contexts other than our own. Paz and Muller address a variety of topics and issues in this article, e.g., the use of a functional language in teaching programming, project-based teaching, and using game programming to enhance motivation. A number of points and claims are made about the benefits of their ideas in teaching computer science. I encourage you to read the article carefully and note your agreements, disagreements, and questions. Perhaps we can have a discussion of the article via the “SIGCS community” tool on the ISTE Web site. In any case, I commend this article to you.
Tamar Paz and Orna Muller: Early Software Design Experience Through Computer Game Programming in the Functional Paradigm
The second offering is a report on the recent survey of the SIGCS membership. Joe Kmoch, our SIGCS chair, initiated the development and administration of a questionnaire about the future of SIGCS. Then, he and several SIGCS members examined the results. Joe prepared a report and I worked with him on the presentation of the ideas he and the members found. I think there were two or three surprises in the data, including strong support for JCSE Online. The article not only reports the results of the survey but also suggests a number of activities that might be reasonable to pursue. I assume those proposed activities will be up for discussion at NECC and online via the “SIGCS community”. I encourage you to communicate your thoughts to Joe and to the SIGCS community.
Joe Kmoch and Philip East: Early SIGCS Future Survey Report
Relative to the future of JCSE Online, I believe a number of changes are necessary. In 1999 I volunteered to attempt to edit JCSE on an interim basis. We have managed to keep the journal alive, but just barely. I suspect that unless that changes, there will be no future for JCSE Online.
The most important change is that we must publish regularly. I intend to redouble my efforts at being more proactive in seeking articles and getting them prepared for you in a timely manner. Ultimately, however, unless sufficient material is submitted, regular publication will not occur. In addition to publishing regularly we will also need to publish enough, i.e., at least three or four articles per issue.
We also anticipate expanding both the audience for and scope of what we publish. We will be accepting material appropriate to teaching non-programming aspects of computing at all levels of K-12 education. We will continue to publish high school “computer science” (programming-related) material but not focus on it.
Hopefully, the expanded scope will contribute to more regular publication of a sufficient number of articles. Please be aware that you can help, too, in a variety of ways:
- Submitting something for publication (possibilities are given below)
- Suggesting a name and/or topic for an article or issue for the editor(s) to pursue
- Recommending an article for reprinting in JCSE Online
- Serving as a reviewer of articles
- Seeking to serve in an editorial capacity
Please let me know if you have any ideas for or interest in any of these activities.
We plan to continue publishing both academic, peer-reviewed articles and editor-reviewed pieces. A variety of types of material are possible and each could address a variety of topics. Keep in mind that we are interested in the teaching of computing—“what” is or could or should be taught, “how” it is or could or should be taught, and information for teachers. Possible types of material are:
- Report of educational research involving the teaching of computing
- Literature-based thoughts
- Teaching technique
- Course description or suggestion
- Lesson description or suggestion
- Assignment description and discussion
- Book review
- Software review
- Editorial or opinion piece
- Tutorial
The content for any of the above forms can address any of:
- Computer use skills
- Problem-based computing
- Computing concept
- Teaching algorithmic thinking or problem solving
- Programming
These lists are meant to be illustrative, not prescriptive. We are interested in all aspects of teaching computing at all levels of pre-college instruction. Note that some high school instruction overlaps with that of colleges.
If you are interested in writing for or otherwise assisting with JCSE, please contact me.
Thank you. Have a good day.
Philip East
east@cs.uni.edu
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