ABSTRACT
Can engaging students in free and open source software(FOSS) pique their interest in computer science? This paper describes an introductory computer science course that introduced students to using FOSS, to contributing to a humanitarian FOSS project, and to studying the broader impact of FOSS on our society. Students learned basic webprogramming skills (PHP/MySQL) and made small but significant contributions to a global FOSS project. Mistakes were made and opportunities were missed. But overall theexperiment was a success and the experience was enjoyable and educational for students and instructor alike. By building on what worked well, this course could serve as a model for incorporating study of FOSS into the introductory computing curriculum.
- Y. Benkler and H. Nissenbaum. Commons-base peer production and virtue. Journal of Political Philosophy, 14(4):394--419, November 2006.Google ScholarCross Ref
- M. Bombardieri. In computer science a growing gender gap. Boston Globe, August 2006.Google Scholar
- J. D. Chase and E. G. Okie. Combining cooperative learning and peer instruction in introductory computer science. In Proceedings 32rd SIGCSE Technical Symposium, pages 139--143, March 2000. Google ScholarDigital Library
- M. Davis and J. Phillips. Learning PHP & MySQL, Second Edition. O'Reilly, 2008. Google ScholarDigital Library
- T. de Lanerolle, R. Morelli, N. Danner, D. Krizanc, G. Parker, and O. Izmirli. Creating an academic community to build humanitarian foss: A progress report. In Proceedings of the 5th International ISCRAM Conference, pages 337--341, May 2008.Google Scholar
- H. J. Ellis, R. Morelli, J. Damon, and J. Raye. Can humanitarian open-source software development draw new students to cs? In Proceedings 38th SIGCSE Technical Symposium, pages 551--555, March 2007. Google ScholarDigital Library
- H. J. Ellis, R. Morelli, and G. Hislop. Holistic software engineering education based on an open source humanitarian project. In Proceedings of the 20th Conference on Software Engineering Education and Training, pages 327--335, July 2007. Google ScholarDigital Library
- E. F. Gehringer. Electronic peer review and peer grading in computer-science courses. In Proceedings 33rd SIGCSE Technical Symposium, pages 139--143, March 2001. Google ScholarDigital Library
- T. Goertz. Open source everywhere. Wired, 11(11), November 2003.Google Scholar
- E. Z. Liu, S. S. Lin, and S. M. Yuan. Alternatives to instructor assessment. International Journal of Instructional Media, 29(4):395--404, 2002.Google Scholar
- Marketwire. Free open source software is costing vendors $60 billion. http://www.marketwire/mw/release.do?id=844462, April 2008.Google Scholar
- R. Morelli, H. J. Ellis, T. de Lanerolle, J. Damon, and C. Walti. Can student written software help sustain h-foss? In Proceedings of the 4th International ISCRAM Conference, pages 41--44, May 2007.Google Scholar
- D. Patterson. President's letter. CACM, 49(3):27--30, March 2006.Google Scholar
- E. S. Raymond. The Cathedral and the Bazaar. O'Reilly, 2001. Google ScholarDigital Library
- R. Rosenzweig. Can history be open source? wikipedia and the future of the past. Journal of American History, 93(1):117--146, June 2006.Google ScholarCross Ref
- T. Wang, L. Wu, and A. Lin. The revival of mozilla in the browser war against internet explorer. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Electronic Commerce, page 159, 2005. Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- Foss 101: engaging introductory students in the open source movement
Recommendations
Can humanitarian open-source software development draw new students to CS?
SIGCSE '07: Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science educationIn this paper, we present an example humanitarian open-source software project that has been used since January 2006 at a small liberal-arts college as an experiment in undergraduate CS education. Sahana (Sinhalese for relief) is a free and open-source ...
Foss 101: engaging introductory students in the open source movement
SIGCSE '09Can engaging students in free and open source software(FOSS) pique their interest in computer science? This paper describes an introductory computer science course that introduced students to using FOSS, to contributing to a humanitarian FOSS project, ...
Computer Science Education in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany—A Case Study
Special Issue II on Computer Science Education in K-12 SchoolsIn North-Rhine Westphalia, the most populated state in Germany, Computer Science (CS) has been taught in secondary schools since the early 1970s. This article provides an overview of the past and current situation of CS education in North-Rhine ...
Comments