CS2013-final-report

Appendix C: Course Exemplars
While the Body of Knowledge lists the topics that should be included in undergraduate programs
in computer science and their associated learning outcomes, there are many different ways in
which these topics may be packaged into courses. In this appendix we present a collection of
course exemplars gathered from a wide variety of institutions. These take different approaches in
how they cover portions of the CS2013 Body of Knowledge. To allow easy comparison, the
exemplars were all written following a common template, which is included before the actual
course exemplars. These exemplars are not generalized models, artificially created from abstract
features, but are rather examples of real courses. Thus they are written from a variety of
viewpoints and in many voices. In the writing, each one embodies the traditions and practices of
its own institution.
Table C1 provides a list of exemplars organized by the Knowledge Area that they most
significantly cover. The courses listed first with respect to each Knowledge Area devote the
majority of their time to the specific Knowledge Area. Courses listed in parentheses have
significant coverage of topics in the Knowledge Area, but have primary emphasis in a different
Knowledge Area. As can be seen from these exemplars, a course often includes material from
multiple Knowledge Areas and, equally, that multiple courses are often used to cover all the
material from one Knowledge Area.
These exemplars are not meant to be prescriptive with respect to curricular design, nor are they
meant to define a standard curriculum for all institutions. Rather they are provided to give
educators examples of different ways that the Body of Knowledge may be organized into
courses, to provide comparative breadth, and to spur new thinking for future course design.
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