MaSc 1044, Computer Science: Contemporary Issues and Tools

The world has gone digital. Its time you caught up.

MASC 1044, Computer Science: A Liberal Arts Approach introduces the internet technologies transforming our world. There are two textbooks for the course:

1.  "Blown to Bits" by H. Abelson, K. Ledeen, & H. Lewis, (freely available for download).

2. App Inventor Create Your Own Android Apps,  David Wolber, Hal Abelson, Ellen Spertus, Liz Looney, O'Reilly, 2011.ISBN: 1449397484.

MASC 1044 fulfills 3 credits of the Area 5 Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning  of the Curriculum for Liberal Education graduation requirement.

Students learning objectives:

• How an individual's privacy rights are being affected by the information revolution.
• How human culture is adapting and being transformed by digital innovation.
• How copyrights and property rights are being affected by internet explosion.
• How free speech is being affected by digital censorship.
• How the wireless spectrum is being regulated.
• How cryptography and encryption are employed for data seurity.
• How data is generated, tracked and stored.
• How the internet communication foundation is affecting its own growth.
• How computer history is a predictor for the computer future.
• How search engines work and how to utilize them efficiently.
• How cryptography and encryption are employed for data security.
• How images are represented digitally.
• How to write simple mobile Android applications.

Click here for MaSc 1044 Frequently Asked Questions

MASC 1044 Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I take this course?

Computing touches almost every aspect of our lives. While some students prepare themselves for building the core technologies that underly computing (e.g., computer science, computer engineering), all students can become better prepared to use---and evaluate and critique---computing technology. So whether you have only a vague sense of dread when the topic of computers comes up, or are fascinated by computing but have other things that interest you even more, this course is an efficient way to satisfy CLE Area 5 while learning about this influential and dynamic field.

What are the main topics of the course?

We will blend together topics from these two textbooks:

 Blown to Bits, Abelson, Ledeen & Lewis

App Inventor Create Your Own Android Apps,  Wolber, Abelson, Spertus, & Looney

The Abelson et al. book discusses how the digital revolution is transforming our world, dealing with contemporary topics such as privacy and security, the power of data, and digital rites and ownership. The Wolber et. al. book is a gentle introduction to computer programming, using a graphical language called App Inventor.

Programming?! Why do I have to learn programming?

Good question. The word "programming" may conjur up nothing but negative images. But students will find that learning a bit of programming can be a fun and rewarding experience, and it goes a long way toward meeting the goals of a course in Area 5 of the CLE. More specifically, here are some reasons we include programming in MASC 1044:

• By learning to program you learn the most important tool used today for automated (i.e., computerized) problem solving.

• By learning to program you learn a "language" of problem solving, a way of describing processes and entities and interactions, which in turn gives you a glimpse of the approaches to reasoning and problem solving that make computing the powerful and ubiquitous influence that it is today.

• By learning to program you see how a mathematical abstraction such as a program can be used to represent entities and processes in the real world.

• By learning to program (including debugging of programs) you learn one of the most important and practical applications of logic.

• By learning to program you get a glimpse "under the hood", so that you can better appreciate, evaluate and benefit from the myriad ways in which computing can solve important problems and enrich lives.

What kind of work will be required in this course?

Your grade will be based on approximately 1-3 homework assignments, 12-14 on-line quizzes, 3-4 programming assignments and a final exam.

What support does the course offer for online study?

All the lectures are available for reading online and recordings of the lectures are available for watching. 

What's with the mysterious title "Compute Science: A Liberal Arts Approach"?

This title is inherited from a much older version of the course.  The course has recently been revived after not being offered for many years.  A better title for the current course is something like "Computer Science: Contemporary Issues and Tools".  

What if I want to know more?

Feel free to contact the instructor, Dwight Barnette (barnette@vt.edu).