A Self-Paced Course in Introductory Computer Programming

A self-paced introductory computer programming course is descrbed which accomodates a wide range of student interest, while incorporating standard elements of the Keller Plan together with some elements specific to computer programmng courses. These elements include: study guides to lead students through the material; variable unit credit for variable amounts of work; frequent one-to-one interaction between students and staff; occasional formal lectures on difficult topics; a choice of several programming languages (FORTRAN or BASIC) and texts; and a choice of different progranuning assignment packages. In addition, emphasis is placed on the concept of an algorithm, as distinct from programming, in the first unit of the course.