Patterns of curriculum design

Abstract

We present a perspective on the design of a curriculum for a new computer science program at a women's liberal arts college. The design incorporates lessons learned at the college in its successful implementation of other academic programs, incorporation of best practices in curriculum design at other colleges, results from studies performed on various computer science programs, and a significant number of our own ideas. Several observations and design decisions are presented as curriculum design patterns. The goal of making the design patterns explicit is to encourage a discussion on curriculum design that goes beyond the identification of core knowledge areas and courses. © 2003 Springer Science+Business Media New York.