Computer science education in universities

Computer Science

Education in Universities

Prof. Jonathan Bowen

Emeritus Professor London South Bank University / Museophile Limited

www.jpbowen.com

Alan Turing (1912–1954)

“I was flabbergasted to learn that today

computer science is not even taught as

standard in UK schools. This risks throwing

away your great computing heritage.”

– Eric Schmitt

Google CEO, 2011

.

• Centenary in 2012

• “The Father of

Computer Science” – The Scientists, Thames & Hudson, 2012

• Annual Turing Award

– CS equivalent of Nobel Prize

Computer science

• Young discipline (first department in 1962)

• Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths

• Taught in most universities

• Student numbers

• Curriculum content

• School-level preparation

• Industrial relevance

• Possible solutions to key issues

Computer science courses on offer in UK fall 18%

• As fees go up to £9,000 a year, course choices narrow

• By Anh Nguyen | Computerworld UK | 24 February 2012

• The number of full-time undergraduate computer

science courses offered by UK universities has fallen

by nearly a fifth since 2006...

• ...169 computer science courses were available in 2012,

down 18% from 2006, when 207 courses were on offer.

• ... The number of courses available at UK universities

has fallen by 27% since 2006, with those in England

cutting 31%, compared to just 3% in Scotland.

University and College Union (UCU)

report, based on data from universities

admission service UCAS.

UCAS applications for Computer Sciences in 2012

67%

13%

9%

7%

3% 1%

2012 applications (total 89,673)

I1 - Computer Science

I2 - Information Systems

I3 - Software Engineering

II - Combinations in CS

I6 - Games

I4 - Artificial Intelligence

Group I Computer Sciences, UCAS, 2012

Maths A-level preferred to CS in general

UCAS acceptances for Computer Sciences in 2012

67%

15%

10%

7%

1% 0%

2012 acceptances (total 19,353)

I1 - Computer Science

I2 - Information Systems

I3 - Software Engineering

II - Combinations in CS

I6 - Games

I4 - Artificial Intelligence

CS acceptance ratio 4.6:1, 22% (cf. 5.7:1, 18% overall)

Group I Computer Sciences, UCAS, 2012

Computer science undergraduate students in the UK

Data from Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited, 2013

55700 56030 58680 60385 61135

19935 18345 18220 16155 15455

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

90000

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12

Full-time Part-time

Full-time increasing, part-time decreasing

Computer science vs. overall science full-time

undergraduate student percentage in the UK

4

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

4.6

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12

CS %

Science %/10

Data from Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited, 2013

Science

overall level,

cf. CS

decreasing

Computer science postgraduate

students in the UK

13425

15720

17135 16335

13460

6520 6180 6750

6145 5615

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12

Full-time Part-time

Data from Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited, 2013

Decreasing recently

Computer science and overall science full-time

postgraduate student percentages in the UK

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12

CS %

Science %/10

Data from Higher Education Statistics Agency Limited, 2013

Many CS

postgraduate

students are

from abroad

Science

overall level,

cf. CS

decreasing

1999-2011

Average CS majors per US CS Department

Dot-com crash

1995-2011

US CS degrees

Dot-com crash + 4 years Dot-com boom

Total female/male CS students in the UK

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12

Female CS

Male CS

Marked disparity

Total female CS students in the UK

6045

5270 5445

5860 5750

4000

4500

5000

5500

6000

6500

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12

2007–12

Female CS

Female CS, science and overall

student percentages in the UK

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12

CS%

Science %

Overall %

Female CS % numbers low and continuing to decline

♂ Gender balance ♀

• CS not very attractive to female students...

• ... despite using IT (mobile, games, etc.)

• Curriculum not female-oriented

• US image different (e.g., The Social Network)

but still 37%♀ in 1985, 18%♀ in 2010, down 51%

• Image problem at school level

• Incentivise better

gender balance?

Curriculum

• BCS accreditation – driver for CS content

• Highly desirable for UK degree programmes

• Degrees for Chartered IT Professional (CITP), also CEng and CSci

• 98 mostly UK universities accredited

• Signatory to Washington and Seoul Accords (international accreditation)

• BCS currently concentrating on CS at schools

• Review CS at universities?

Curriculum

• In US and elsewhere, ACM is influential

• Also IEEE – e.g., SWEBOK

• Software Engineering Body of Knowledge

• What a software engineer should know

• Body of Knowledge

for CS, etc.?

Computer science in China • China’s University and College Admission System (CUCAS)

• Computer Science and Technology

• 2007: 598 universities with CS departments running

847 computing-related programmes (up 75% from

484 in 2002), with over 430,000 undergraduates

• Degree programmes usually split into:

1. computer system structures

2. computer software and theory

3. applied computer science

Computer science graduate teachers

• Little incentive for CS graduates to

become teachers (cf. maths and physics)

• Very few CS graduates in schools

• IT often taught by teachers with little CS

experience

• Incentivise CS graduates

to teach CS

• In the meantime, Computer Science

Teaching Network of Excellence ...

600 schools,

120 lead schools

70 universities,

18/24 Russell Group

University

Schools (max 40)

Master

Teacher

CPD

First three months: 250 teachers on CPD courses

Thank you to Bill Mitchell, BCS Academy

Visas

• General problem

• Discourages collaboration

• Bureaucratic procrustean process

• Working afterwards an issue for students

• Safeguards needed ...

• ... but make proportionate

• More trust in reliable institutions?

Industry

• Liaison needed

• Education vs. training

• CS is a very fast-changing field (fastest?)

• Foundations more stable,

applications change constantly (e.g., mobile)

• Need to ensure relevance (short and long term)

• Enabling through BCS or ...?

First Google

web server (1999), already

in a museum

for many years!

Solutions

• Better foundations at school (underway!)

– especially mathematical underpinning

• Scheme for CS graduate teachers

• Improve curriculum (BCS accreditation)

• Incentivise gender balance (how?)

• Visa bureaucracy (reduce)

• Dialogue with industry for needs

(national forum?)

Alan Turing

(1912–1954)

Slate sculpture of Alan

Turing at Bletchley Park

by Stephen Kettle (www.stephenkettle.co.uk)

• 60th anniversary of

his death in 2014

• The Turing Guide, Oxford University

Press, 2014

The End

Prof. Jonathan Bowen

www.jpbowen.com

[email protected]