Computer-Science Professor Warns of 'Dot-Bomb' in the Discipline

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By HURLEY GOODALL

Many people are talking about changing the way computer science is taught on college campuses. Andries van Dam, a professor of computer science at Brown University, is a newly prominent voice in the discussion. Mr. van Dam was recently selected to lead the education committee of the Computing Research Association, an influential group of about 200 computer-related academic departments.

Q: What are some of the current problems in computer-science education?

A: I think what we're seeing nationally is a meltdown, a "dot-bomb." [We are] hearing that we're no longer attracting the best and brightest in the same numbers, that the field doesn't seem to be considered "hot" anymore, and all the jobs are being outsourced. A lot of bad press.

Q: Is it a perception problem or is there some reality?

A: There is a lot of outsourcing. But at the same time, a lot of American companies, like Google and Pixar, can't fill their quotas for top people. Of course, they'll set up branch offices where there is talent: Eastern Europe, India, and China.

Q: So what can American colleges do to meet the demand now?

A: American universities need to make sure they turn out highly qualified graduates. There needs to be an "upskilling" in students; it's the only way we'll be able to compete with the highly trained work forces in Europe and Asia. That means we'll need to be modernizing our curriculum more often, putting in new ways of studying computer science, not just the same old stuff we've been doing for 30 years.

Q: What are some of the ways computer-science programs can stay relevant and attract more students?

A: You can't keep offering kids the same standard computer-science courses. If the course titles have changed but the content hasn't, you have to bring in new subjects to turn them on, like game design or computer vision. There are interesting problems in computational neuroscience and molecular biology that require kids to be more interdisciplinary than 20 years ago.

Q: What do you hope to bring to computer-science education?

A: We'll try to figure out "computing in the broad sense" — not just computer-science education, but computing education in other fields as well. What should high-school students know about computation? What should college students know about computation? I think these are all questions we're going to ask.