Computer Science is really about people

by Nancy Smith

In the office of Trent University's Computer Science/Studies Department is a round table, about four chairs, and a whiteboard. There are always students at this table -- sitting, standing, leaning, chatting. The people being around the table encourages discussion, real-time communication, and a sense of community. In this forum, understanding is shared and problems are solved. Computers never serve as the focal point, people do.

This has always been our trend but it is shared by few post-secondary Computer Science/Studies Departments. Instead, their driving force is in throwing copious lines of code at a situation. For them, the machine, the computer, is key -- its statistics and specifications, gigabytes of memory, cache, floating point operations per second. How excited do you get about your refrigerator? It stands in your kitchen and serves its purpose. And, it's somewhat invisible because it is merely a tool.

Our department's approach and Computer Science/Studies curriculum requirements at Trent strive to nurture the well-rounded thinker and problem-solver, not a fixated gadget junky whose verbiage is designed to intimidate and control. For us, the computers are not what is most important, the people are.

How do Computer Science/Studies students apply this trend in the Trent Community? Exactly in the same way you use tools like your refrigerator in your daily life -- on an as-needed basis. For example, our students work in the computer labs as advisors. Here, other students from all programs read e-mail, check course requirements, complete research utilizing many databases, and work on assignments. Advisors answer questions and aid the user in finding, saving, and printing material. The result is more helping and problem-solving, more learning and supporting, more community and less technology. You don't rave on about your refrigerator and they don't rhapsodize about their RAM. Our computer students don't fit the techno-geek image because they're not techno-geeks. Instead they are First Response volunteers, Council members, pub managers. You see them in partnerships, initiating and implementing groundbreaking interdisciplinary and interdepartmental studies, programs, and liaisons. You can even hear them as members of the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra! The focus is people, not machines.

Need a problem solved? Think the latest technology is the answer? A proven trend starts with people and a round table.

As Adjunct Professor of Computer Studies, Nancy Smith especially enjoys teaching the Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life course. Her e-mail address is nmsmith@trentu.ca.


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Last updated May 7, 2001