Op-ed: Northeastern’s redesign of the Khoury curriculum abandons the fundamentals of computer science - The Huntington News
One of the most common career paths for a computer science major is as a software developer . An effective university curriculum must prepare computer science students with the skills needed to be successful in their careers as developers.
The field of software development, however, changes faster than the Boston weather. A curriculum focused on current industry trends risks becoming obsolete before students even graduate. So how can Northeastern teach students skills that will stand the test of time? The university, which recently announced it would completely overhaul its curriculum , must carefully and thoughtfully consider this question.
A good computer science curriculum must emphasize fundamental principles that are widely applicable, enabling students to easily adapt to new technologies in the field they are entering. It must teach students how to think about software and how to problem-solve.
This is exactly what Northeastern’s current curriculum strives to do. Fundamentals of Computer Science , or “Fundies,” as it is popularly known, teaches systematic program design through the design recipe , which provides a consistent formula for tackling unfamiliar problems. The design recipe breaks down a problem into small, achievable steps, of which the first few require students to think carefully about the problem before writing code to solve it. Core classes such as Fundies 1, Fundies 2, Object-Oriented Design and Software Development focus on training students to reason about code, rather than to mindlessly write it.
