Running head: A LOOK INTO THE COMPUTER SCIENCE FIELD

A Look into the Computer Science Field Craig Allard Michigan State University

A LOOK INTO THE COMPUTER SCIENCE FIELD

Creating has always been in my nature, whether it be building with LEGOs as a kid or putting up dry wall in houses with my dad. I have always had a desire growing up to get a job that requires my creative mind and unique building skills. Going into high school, I realized that I could combine my building skills together with my love for computers to create software and programs. Many people dont know what they want to be coming out of high school but I was fortunate enough to find something I love. It is a topic I found interesting the second I was introduced to it and fascinates me to study every single day. Computer Science is my field of study and challenges me to use unique skills to solve problems. Computer science is the study of computer systems and the way people interact with them to achieve desired goals. This includes programming and theory of software design, but there are many different subcategories that are taught such as networking and computer security. In this field, people manipulate human thoughts and questions into computer instructions to be solved electronically. The foundation of computer science revolves around information handling and devising algorithms to attain certain answers. This field is the basis of all technology ever created and is the future of further advancement. Any sort of electronic device needs code in order to operate and computer scientists are the people that create it.

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A LOOK INTO THE COMPUTER SCIENCE FIELD

There may be some confusion between computer science and computer engineering. As I have stated earlier, computer science deals more with the programming aspect and software design. Computer engineering deals more along the lines of hardware and electrical design. The engineering field mixes electrical courses and circuitry with computer science to understand how computers work and create computer architecture. S cience is foremost about dissecting and understanding, and engineering is mostly about envisioning and building (Rosenbloom, 2004). What does it take to take to study computer science? There are many notable traits and skills that computer scientists share in common. Some of these skills may seem obvious and potentially easy to obtain but are needed in order to thrive and create working programs. First, you need great math skills. Here at Michigan State, it is required to take up to calculus IV, along with a couple math based classes such as physics and statistics. Second, a dedicated personality and good problem solving skills are needed to write stable code. Often times, people in this field will encounter serious problems while creating programs. This can be a very frustrating thing to overcome, but knowing how to go about solving problems and staying committed will always lead to success. Another helpful skill to have when going into computer science is the ability to type quickly. Its not a requirement by any means, but will help save a significant amount of time on homework and lab assignments. Having well rounded computer skills prior to entering the field will give a student a remarkable advantage compared to others. Computer science is not an easy field to coast through however. There is a huge work load and lots of reading that needs to be done in order to succeed. Seven out of Ten upperclassmen said that they have three to four hours of homework every day while the other

A LOOK INTO THE COMPUTER SCIENCE FIELD

three students had more than four hours a day. Their homework consists of mostly studying for upcoming exams and programming projects that take days of work to complete. On average, a student in this field spends six hours a day working with computers, doing some sort of programming. When the students were asked to rate the difficulty of the field on a five point scale, seven of the ten students rated it at a four. After talking with a couple of these students, I learned that they were aware of the work load and still chose computer science due to their passion for the field. Eight of Ten students said that this was their first choice for a major and that they enjoy studying it. From this statistic, we can assume that it is a field that you are drawn into before college and might already have some experience in. This field obviously requires a passion for computers prior to entering it. Most students also said that they even had an enjoyment for coding before college. Seven out of Ten students said that they had programmed before entering computer science. That means that roughly seventy percent of the students in this field already had experience in this major, meaning that not many students picked computer science without a programming background. Many of these students wrote
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that it is something that you either love or hate and recommended that you

experiment with it before you choose this major. Prior experience will only help benefit the success of a student.

A LOOK INTO THE COMPUTER SCIENCE FIELD

Compared to general classes such as math and science, computer science courses have a significant difference that I realized immediately. The first thing that I noticed when I started going to my programming classes was the gender ratio; there is little variation of sex in computer science classes. It is predominately male students and females are extremely under represented (Smith, 2012, p.29). Why is there such a disproportion? Media has played a serious role in stereotyping people with any association to computers and technology. Many movies in the past, such as Revenge of the Nerds, characterized these types of people to be primarily male, college student, nerds. Media played an influential role in setting the stereotype and also portrayed females to have little relevance to computers. Many computing advertisements negatively portrayed women as incompetent and men as the focus of computers. This gender bias that media has presented to society caused females to have a lack of interest and self-confidence in this field (Smith, 2012, p.27) (Gadalla, 1999). With a degree in computer science, there are many different types of jobs that you can get. One of these jobs is a software engineer, where they use the fundamentals of computer science and engineering to create and evaluate software. Software engineers can work out of huge, multimillion dollar corporations, or small businesses such as a phone application developer. Typically, a project is initiated when a customer specifies what they want their program to do. There are many things the two need to work out such as input methods, and what should happen if errors occur. Once the engineer understands the project, he/she will split up the work between their co-workers and commence on the program. There will be many different models of the software to present to the customer before the project is tweaked and completed (Computer Software, 2006).

A LOOK INTO THE COMPUTER SCIENCE FIELD

Over the past couple centuries, software engineers have come a long way in programming progress. Back in the seventies, programmers at IBM only had around 500 function points of tools available. These function points refer tools such as sorts, assemblers, and other fundamental mechanisms. Todays software engineer is usually equipped with roughly 25,000 tools that can be implemented into their code to increase productivity. Many chunks of code are reused in projects which is what these methods are based around. These tools can be imported to code and used to perform that specific operation instead
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of wasting time recreating the same function. Software engineers have

created many tools over the past few decades that can now be referenced to speed up the process and make programming much more efficient (Jones, 1993). With the rapid advancement of technology, professors need to stay up to date with all the new material to teach the students. After interviewing Mark McCullen, a CSE professor here at Michigan State University, I learned how they stay on top of the material. Every four years or so, the computer science professors meet with ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) supervisors and discuss course guidelines. On occasion, new versions of programming languages are released and the course needs to be altered to accommodate these changes. Other associations such as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

A LOOK INTO THE COMPUTER SCIENCE FIELD

play a big role in course outlines and certain material that needs to be covered in classes. These groups manage all professional development for computer science professors to keep them up to date with all of the newest information. Near the end of the interview I had with Professor McCullen, he shared some great advice for students new to the computer science major. For anyone that is new to this field, he advises that there should be a lot of focus on time management. It is one of the most important things in this field because the projects that are assigned can be very long and almost impossible to complete on the last night they are due. He suggested always getting a head start on programming projects so that if problems do occur, there is still a substantial amount of time to target the cause and fix it. At first glance, a project may seem relatively easy, but Ive learned to never underestimate the amount of time things may take. In conclusion, I find myself blessed to have found a field that interests me so much. Although my research led me to discover how difficult this major may be, Im determined to stick with my love for computer science. Even if there is a heavy work load, it will not affect my decision on what major to pick. It will be an experience that I can actually enjoy while learning many things along the way. It is amazing to think that after my education at Michigan State, I will be in reach of my life goal as software engineer. All students have the potential to follow their dreams and I cant wait to make mine become a reality.

A LOOK INTO THE COMPUTER SCIENCE FIELD

References Computer software engineer. (2006). Techniques, 81(7), 50-51. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/216129728?acc ountid=12598. Gadalla, T. M. (1999). Are more women studying computer science? Resources for Feminist Research, 27(1), 137-142. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/194877521?acc ountid=12598 Jones, T. C. (1993). Equipping the software engineer. Software Magazine, 13(1), 100. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/218446981?acc ountid=12598 Rosenbloom, P. S. (2004). A new framework for computer science and engineering. Computer, 37(11), 23-28. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/197407061?acc ountid=12598 Smith, Martha. "Perceptions of Females in Undergraduate Computer science/technology Programs Toward the Field of Computer Science: A Mixed Methods Study." Order No. 3494281 Saint Louis University, 2012. Ann Arbor: ProQuest.Web. 25 Mar. 2014.