Computer science needs an insight-based curriculum

Abstract

Computer science is a fundamentally creative endeavour. The creativity necessary for science is not produced through a knowledge of many facts, but through deep insight into the relationships between facts and the methods of inquiry through which they are discovered. The goal of computer science education should be the development of insight into the methods and nature of the discipline, not simply exposure to its current factual content. Unfortunately, few aspects of insight are explicitly addressed in any standard curricula. We call for, and present an outline for, a curricula based on insight rather than topics.