Content and Results

Content and Results

In the course, students learn to use software tools for such computational tasks as composing and editing Web sites, maintaining and manipulating databases, and creating CD-ROMs. The students study the process of turning an idea into a useful software product and methods for evaluating that product in terms of usability.

In the first three weeks of the semester, students put their new computational skills to work by creating "guest books." A guest book is a dynamic Web site where users can enter or retrieve information. That information is stored in a database. Each guest book is developed independently by one student; it may have any purpose and design that the student chooses. This assignment gives all of the students a common experience, a common vocabulary, and a common set of computational tools. The guest book represents a substantial piece of individual work. For students who enter the course with little computational experience, designing a Web site, creating the database, and hooking the two parts together is a major accomplishment.

The remaining weeks then are devoted to completing a computational project in collaboration with a local community service agency. Representatives of the agencies meet with the students in order to refine the project ideas generated at the workshop, and they later work with the students to test and evaluate prototypes . To date, all of the projects have been Web-based although that characteristic is not a requirement of a course project.

While representatives of many agencies have played some role in the course, some of the most important projects to this point include:

• A self-paced introductory tutorial about computers and the Internet for Boulder Senior Services,

• A variety of educational products for Sojourner Charter Middle School,

• A game for fourth graders simulating the ecology of a local marsh for the Boulder Valley School District, and

• An on-line events scheduling calendar for use by local non-profit agencies, developed for the Boulder Community Foundation.

While most of the projects satisfy small-scale needs of the client agencies, a local bank executive who is very active in non-profit work expects the events calendar to save local non-profits $100,000 a year by reducing events-scheduling conflicts. The full set of projects is showcased at http://www.cs. colorado .edu/VDC.

Enrollment

The course is open to all undergraduate students at UCB. About 48% of the students who have enrolled in the first three semesters are female . That is a remarkable percentage in the Department of Computer Science, where females have totaled between 11 and 16% of undergraduate majors during the last 14 years . It demonstrates that UCB's Development Center is achieving its goal of woman -friendly technical education.

The student body is also diverse in terms of majors. In the first three semesters, 40% of the 41 students have come from the College of Engineering and 60% from three other UCB Colleges (Arts and Sciences, Business, and Journalism and Communication). About 28% of the students have been Computer Science majors. Freshmen and sophomores have enrolled, but most (85%) of the students have been juniors or seniors. The course is part of the Technology, Arts, and Media [TAM] certificate curriculum (TAM, 2002), and 35% of the students have come from the TAM program. Enrollment has grown each semester, but teaching facilities will likely limit class size to about 20-25 students.

The heterogeneous student body is suitable. Students work in small, interdisciplinary teams to complete the projects. Students with capabilities in such areas as design, art, writing, and social science find natural roles, as do students with strong computational skills. There is particular need for students with expertise in databases, Web site development, and the writing of educational materials.

There are no formal prerequisites for the course, but, for maximal comfort , participants should be able to write a simple program, compose a Web page, or have some familiarity with at least one commercial software package. Students with more advanced computing knowledge are invited to help with computational instruction.