From "Hello World" to "Hello Real World"

Computer Programming Gets a Makeover at UC San Diego

From “Hello World” to “Hello Real World”

What: Revolutionary new way to teach (and learn) computer programming on display. Computer science undergrads from UC San Diego will show off the glossy images they created while they learned to write computer code.

When: November 18, 2008; 4:30PM to 5:30PM

Where: UC San Diego’s computer science building
Map here: http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/about/map.shtml

More info:
What are “for loops” good for? New computer science students often ask this question when faced with writing their first computer programs, and many lose interest or become frustrated along the steep learning curve. In order to help students see the many opportunities available in computing and to make the learning curve more fun, computer science undergrads now learn to turn “for loops” into “for making really cool images loops.”

Welcome to UC San Diego’s reinvented intro-to-computer-programming course. The students still learn the fundamental programming concepts (like “for loops”), but instead of writing programs to calculate bank interest or spell out “hello world,” they write programs that manipulate digital images. The results of this “write-your-own-Photoshop” approach to learning computer programming will be on display tomorrow, November 18. More than 40 pairs of UCSD undergrads will show off large glossy prints of their manipulated images along with the computer code they wrote in order to create the images.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ occupational employment projections for 2016, over 800,000 of 1.4 million new professional jobs (57%) will be in computing. The new way of introducing programming is part of UC San Diego’s commitment to make computer science education as engaging and relevant to as wide and diverse a pool of students as possible. “The students are loving it!” said Beth Simon Ph.D., the computer science lecturer teaching the class.

Media Contact: Daniel Kane dbkane@ucsd.edu; 858-534-3262 (o)

Computer Science Contact: Beth Simon bsimon@cs.ucsd.edu

Bureau of Labor Statistics report here

Class Web Site