A learning model of computer science education for liberal arts students

With the development of information technology, the goals of computer science education for liberal arts in Japan have been extended, that is, not only to help them develop their computer operation skills and acquire their basic knowledge of the mechanism but also to help students develop their scientific thinking skills and understand the roles of information technologies. Students in noncomputer engineering major have pieces of knowledge on applications such as the products made with information technologies. They would also acquire the knowledge of the fundamental mechanism of computer and communication systems, by taking advantage of lectures. Therefore, it is important to organize the structure of their scientific knowledge by connecting those kinds of knowledge. This paper shows how we should organize various kinds of knowledge, and propose a learning style for this purpose. In addition to that, we show that a mailing list contributes to construct knowledge as a tool for cooperative learning.