Foundations of computer science for entry-level graduate students

摘要

In recent years, as colleges and universities have established new interdisciplinary programs, students have tended increasingly to combine (or switch) academic fields as they pass from one degree level to the next. This has brought about a situation in which many students try to enter new academic areas at the graduate level without having the prerequisite undergraduate course background. And so for some time now, academicians have sought to develop programs and courses that will help those students make up their deficiencies and prepare them for more advanced work, rather than lower the standards of the basic courses.

The course described in this paper was designed to cover approximately two and a half years of undergraduate computer science material in a six-credit, two-semester sequence. It is directed at graduate students from a variety of academic areas and does not require more than the usual resources for a programming course. Therefore, it should be of interest to institutions faced with limited budgets at a time when they are trying to build quality computer science graduate programs.