*

A one day workshop sponsored by the Duke University Department of Computer Science and the National Science Foundation will be held on March 22, 1997 at Duke, in Durham, North Carolina. The workshop sponsors will cover all expenses associated with the conference (meals etc) on Saturday, and Friday night. We will cover neither lodging nor travel.

Deadline for submitting position papers: March 11, deadline for applying to participate in the workshop: March 15

The second course in computer science, traditionally known as either CS2 or Data Structures, is changing rapidly as a result of new paradigms, languages, and philosophy. Traditionally the course has been built around the study of data structures: their implementation, use, and analysis. The availability of widely-available and robust class libraries (e.g., STL in C++, JGL in Java) may change one focus of the course to emphasize use more than implementation. Widespread interest in the object-oriented paradigm engendered by Java and C++ may change the structure of the course and which data structures are used and studied.

Should we teach our students how to understand and use class libraries rather than implementing elementary data structures from scratch? Should we encourage the development and use of more complex programming assignments in which we ask students to build or augment larger programs than were possible when all components were built from scratch? Can we include object-oriented concepts only at the expense of de-emphasizing other topics (e.g., algorithm analysis)?

The workshop will provide an informal and nonconfrontational atmosphere in which we will discuss these topics and others related to the future of the CS2 course. We hope to engage interested computer science educators and produce a report summarizing the positions and discussions that result from the workshop. Workshop participants are invited to prepare a short (500 words or less) position paper on the future of the CS2 course. These papers will serve as a starting point for discussion. Those interested in participating in the workshop without submitting a position paper are also welcome to apply. We anticipate inviting 25-30 people. Position papers should be submitted as HTML documents, or send a URL, to ola@cs.duke.edu.

   Owen Astrachan                                      919.660.6522
   D241, LSRC, Box 90129, Research Drive                919.660.6519 (fax)
   Durham, NC 27708-0129                               
   ola@cs.duke.edu