A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Enhancing academic and Practice

284 ❘
Teaching in the disciplines
Curriculum
Graduates of computing science require a blend of abilities encompassing not only
technical but business acumen and interpersonal skills. Employers of graduates seek
primarily good technical ability in all aspects of software development but also a mixture
of other skills facilitating teamworking, communications and project management. Both
the British Computer Society (BCS) and the Institution for Engineering and Technology
(IET) are concerned that educational institutions maintain standards appropriate for those
wishing to follow a career in computing. Both professional bodies offer systems of
exemption and accreditation for appropriate courses, providing a route to membership.
These schemes are valuable forms of recognition by professional bodies that courses offer
appropriate curricula to meet the needs of industry and commerce. In considering courses
for exemption or accreditation, evidence is required to show that course content aims to
offer students sufficient breadth of coverage in appropriate computing topics to provide
sound academic grounding in the discipline. The curricular guidelines produced by the
validating bodies are not prescriptive with respect to core course content, thus enabling
institutions to develop specialisms and provide a distinctive flavour to their course
provision.
The scope of the field of computing is reflected in the varied titles and curricula that
institutions have given to computing-related degree courses. The expanding interdisciplinary
and diverse nature of the subject causes overlap with areas of interest such
as engineering, physics, mathematics, psychology, physiology, design and linguistics.
Many institutions offer joint programmes of computing with these areas. However, with
the rapid rate of development, study of different aspects of the subject is appropriate to
a wide range of student interests and aspirations. Computer ethics, forensics, multimedia,
games development and medical informatics are all emerging disciplines which present
a spectrum of activity ranging from theory at one end to practice at the other. The QAA
subject benchmarks define a body of knowledge indicative of the scope of the broad
area of computing. However, despite the flexibility in programme design there are
certain core elements which remain common, most notably the teaching of programming.
Problems associated with the teaching (and more importantly the learning) of programming
have generated considerable debate within the profession.
Teaching programming
Programming is a core skill in computing science. The teaching of programming is
perceived to be problematic and programming modules are identified as having a
detrimental effect on continuing enrolment rates within degree programmes. The
cognitive difficulties in learning to program and the skills that make a good programmer
are difficult to identify. Probably more time is invested in teaching programming than any
other area of the discipline, yet students struggle as they try to master the skill. Many
graduates of computing science will indeed seek employment where the need for the