{"51667":{"#nid":"51667","#data":{"type":"news","title":"College of Computing Debuts Transformational Change To Undergraduate Computer Science Education","body":[{"value":"\u003Ch2\u003EInnovative Threads\u2122 Curriculum Focuses on Best Preparing Students for Successful and Sustainable Careers in a Competitive Global Economy\u003C\/h2\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EATLANTA (September 26, 2006) \u2013\u003C\/strong\u003E The College of Computing at Georgia Tech, a national leader in the creation of real-world computing breakthroughs that drive social and scientific progress, today announced that, starting with the 2006-2007 academic year, incoming freshmen will be the first to experience Threads\u2122, its transformational approach to undergraduate computer science education developed by college faculty. With the goal of producing graduates whose skill sets will be difficult to outsource in a globally-competitive marketplace, Threads is the basis for a flexible, exciting and innovative computer science curriculum that enables students to pursue lifelong learning and drive real, sustainable value throughout their careers.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThreads represents a tremendous departure from current thinking about computer science education \u2013 historically a vertically-oriented curriculum whose goal is the creation of students with a fixed set of skills and knowledge,\u201d said Richard A. DeMillo, John P. Imlay, Jr. Dean of the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. \u201cComputer science as a discipline is an increasingly broad spectrum. Threads gives students the power to select where they want to be in this spectrum and to take ownership of their career trajectories.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ENew York Times\u003C\/em\u003E columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas L. Friedman, author of the best-selling \u003Cem\u003EThe World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century\u003C\/em\u003E, recognized the paradigm-shifting nature of the Threads curriculum. In his updated version of \u003Cem\u003EThe World Is Flat\u003C\/em\u003E released in April 2006, Friedman stated that the Georgia Tech College of Computing model recognizes that \u201cthe world is increasingly going to be operating off the flat-world platform, with its tools for all kinds of horizontal collaboration\u201d and that other academic institutions must \u201cmake sure that they are embedding these tools and concepts of collaboration into the education process.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Threads curriculum consists of the following eight sets of broad and horizontally-focused skill categories (or \u201cthreads\u201d) that lie within and outside of the computing discipline:\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EComputational Modeling \u2013 where computing meets and describes the world;\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EEmbodiment \u2013 where computing meets the world;\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EFoundations \u2013 where computing meets itself;\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EInformation Internetworks \u2013 where computing meets data;\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EIntelligence \u2013 where computing meets and models intelligence;\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EMedia \u2013 where computing meets design;\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EPeople \u2013 where computing meets users; and\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EPlatforms \u2013 where the practical skills of computing are learned. \u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAny two threads can be intertwined, leading to an accredited Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. In total, there are 28 possible combinations of threads, creating an educational experience more tailored to the individual student.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAn incoming student at the College of Computing may enter with the desire to start their own company designing and marketing household robots. Some may want to be a game designer. Others may want to focus on the theoretical and mathematical foundations of computing. With Threads, there are almost as many possibilities as there are students,\u201d said Charles Isbell, Assistant Professor at the College of Computing at Georgia Tech and co-creator of Threads. \u201dAn additional expectation of Threads is the attraction and retention of a broader range of students, including larger numbers of women and under-represented talent, into computing and computer science.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile the eight threads define the content of students\u2019 undergraduate degree, the College of Computing has also developed \u201croles\u201d to define how they will apply their degree in the real world. Similar to choosing threads, students can choose one of four roles to guide their course selection and explore for course credit. The currently-defined roles are:\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EMaster Practitioner \u2013 expert programmer who possesses the technical skill and experiences to thoroughly design, construct and validate computer-based systems either alone or as part of a large team;\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EEntrepreneur \u2013 creator and leader of new enterprises that bring technology to the public;\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EInnovator \u2013 discoverer of new knowledge and constructor of ground-breaking solutions; and\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003ECommunicator \u2013 individual capable of communicating technical information to the technologist and layperson alike.\u003C\/li\u003E\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBy offering undergraduates the opportunity to explore multiple computing trajectories, threads and roles help to develop the culture of innovation, risk-taking and continual learning in students \u2013 attributes that increase students\u2019 value in the global economy.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe College of Computing at Georgia Tech currently enrolls about 800 undergraduates, most of them pursuing the Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. The Threads platform will serve as the new curriculum for this degree, starting with the 220 first-year students enrolled in the 2006-2007 academic year.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor more information and to read the white paper on Threads, \u003Cem\u003ECreating Symphonic-Thinking Computer Science Graduates for an Increasingly Competitive Global Market\u003C\/em\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/images\/pdfs\/threads_whitepaper.pdf\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eclick here\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECollege of Computing contact:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EStefany Wilson\u003Cbr \/\u003ECollege of Computing at Georgia Tech\u003Cbr \/\u003E404.894.7253\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:stefany@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Estefany@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ewww.cc.gatech.edu \u003C\/a\u003E \u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Innovative Threads\u2122 Curriculum focuses on best preparing students for successful and sustainable careers in a competitive global economy.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27154","created_gmt":"2010-02-09 21:46:48","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:05:08","author":"Louise Russo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2006-09-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2006-09-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}