On introducing digital computing

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Abstract
Broadly stated, the goals of instruction are to impart factual knowledge or useful skills or both which, in turn, will aid the recipient in meeting and understanding new situations. Such a truism certainly applies to instruction in the emerging field of computing, but the relative newness and rapid growth of the field create problems in designing courses based on this dicta. One problem, which is shared by any course designer whose subject matter is based in large measure on a rapidly developing technology, is to select for presentation those facts, from the brief history and current practice, that will have a lasting relevance. A similar selection problem exists in thc area of skills. The feeling exists that the skills imparted should transcend the specific details of current practice but, if this view is adopted, the problem becomes one of defining such skills and discovering how they differ, if at all, from the goals of more established courses in mathematics, logic, etc. One answer to these selection problems is to avoid them; that is, teach a variety of topics of current interest and let the selection be done, in time, by the student who will hopefully retain what continues to be useful. This approach may well be the best in a developmental era but, perhaps, some insight can be gained by briefly considering the subject matter and skills relevant to digital computer programming.

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