TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama College of Engineering computer science department was recently awarded the first Active and Collaborative Learning Grant. The grant, given by the University, is worth $11,000, and it will be used to modify the Introduction to Computer Programming Laboratory course into more of a problem-solving experience.

Drs. Richard Borie and Marcus Brown, associate professors of computer science, and Dr. David Cordes, associate professor and head of the department, proposed the grant to address problems encountered by first-year students who have elected to pursue a degree in computing.

“Prior to writing any computer program, you need a solid handle of what the underlying problem or task is and how you are going to go about accomplishing it,” said Cordes. “Regardless of which career path the students select, from business applications to engineering to scientific computing, today’s industry demands that a computing major is able to design and implement solutions to current problems in their field. This means that one of the fundamental skills that our students must have is an ability to solve problems.”

The changes to the introductory course include a 75-minute class with students working in teams to solve problems. It utilizes upper-division undergraduates from the disciplines of computer science, computer engineering and management information sciences to assist with the teams, facilitating and mentoring their efforts and activities. Topics to be covered in the course include information gathering, solution constraints, eliminating extraneous information, using “back-of-the-envelope” estimates and calculations and additional topics focusing on other problem-solving techniques.

In 1837, UA became the first university in the state to offer engineering classes and was one of the first five in the nation to do so. Today, the College of Engineering, with about 1,900 students and more than 95 faculty, is one of the three oldest continuously operating engineering programs in the country and has been fully accredited since accreditation standards were implemented in the 1930s.