MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD


DATE:		January 12, 2016

Prepared by:	Dr. David A. Gaitros
		Chair, Undergraduate Curriculum Committee 
		Department of Computer Science

RE:		ABET Course Reports for COP4020	

Course number: COP4020		
Course name:   Programming Languages
Committee members:Xin Yuan, Robert van Engelen , Chris Lacher  
Report submitted date: 12/11/2015 

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1. Were there any problems with the coruse last year? If Yes, describe the problems. 

COP4020 Spring 2015 Course Report The spring 2015 offering of COP4020, Programming Languages, 
was kept very similar in structure and content to the previous few semesters’ offerings of the course. 
However, as the number of undergraduates grows, the size of the class (which is required in both the BS and BA tracks) 
has grown such that some requirements of the class have become more difficult to meet. This year in one term we 
had approximately 80 students across two sections. The biggest complaint I received from multiple students was 
the desire to explore other programming paradigms using languages that are more commonly used today. 

This course was particularly difficult to teach due to the size and the fact that there were two lectures. 
One of the requirements of the course is an oral competency 
demonstration wherein students must give a 10-15 minute presentation on a technical topic. However, with 80 
students, this can only be done in recitation sections when the instructor is not present. 
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2. Course committee recommendations to the current/future instructors.
Add an attendance component to the recitations.  Continue to update the material.  

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3. Course committee recommendations to department/UCC regarding this course.

NA.