This is a good sign!
The general public is just realizing how important computer skills are, no matter what you are trying to do. A well rounded CS major can learn something new and apply those skills to something else. I think public schools and high schools need to start integrating and making CS/programming courses necessary just as basic math and science courses are required -- then once people reach university age, they can focus on different topics without having to take CS courses to learn the basic skills they require to approach those topics like a CS major would.
Absolutely. Most of these students won't become programmers, but they'll have gained experience thinking about problems algorithmically, in a context where specificity and unambiguity are required. Plus, even extremely minimal programming skill can be a valuable "secret weapon" in fields which are not historically strong technically.
I don't think that CS should be included in a high school curriculum. Programming is a valuable skill, sure, but I don't think that it will be applicable to 95% of students. There are such a broad range of jobs in the world, and very, very few end up doing programming, despite increasing numbers for university CS course registration.
I don't think that calculus should be included in a high school curriculum. Differential modelling is a valuable skill, sure, but I don't think that it will be applicable to 95% of students. There are such a broad range of jobs in the world, and very, very few end up doing differential modelling, despite increasing numbers for university calculus course registration.
Then perhaps there's ambiguity in the phrase "included in a high school curriculum." I consider calculus to have been included in my high school curriculum, but I chose to take it.
Have you ever head of Bob Mankoff? He's the cartoon editor of the New Yorker. He created a program to generate simple 1-grams and bi-grams of the weekly comic caption contest to get a general idea of what submissions are looking like, and what's popular. Right away he can get a good idea of what most people are thinking about it, and it has an effect on the caption they publish.
Maybe not as a core program, but I definitely think that all high schools should offer it as an elective. I was in the middle of teaching myself C++ when I took it, and I was completely stuck on the concept of pointers. Our teacher made the concept workable for me, and we had some decent programming projects on the side. It's probably where I learned to love being a polyglot as well, since the class was in Pascal. If I ever saw her again I'd definitely give her a hug for helping me cross the bridges I came to.
CS (intro to programming, really) courses were an elective at my high school long before I got there, and were standard in the county. (Graduated in '99, went to high school in Fairfax County, VA.)
I think that as we depend on computers more, it's more important for people to have a basic understanding of what it even means to program. Demystifying technology is important. They may not even program, but I think it is becoming an important part of being educated for our society.
I've had friends who took the intro to CS class (just a basic sample of programming, in python) and they just could not understand the material. They worked hard, but it was just difficult to get concepts as simple as conventional variable naming and keywords (ie, they though every variable had to have a certain naming scheme or the program wouldn't run.)
Some people just don't have an aptitude for programming. Just like I don't have an aptitude for graphic design.
And just like some people don't have an aptitude for poetry, reading 16th century literature, doing differential equations or memorizing lists of dates and events.
Doesn't mean it shouldn't be taught as a part of the core curriculum.
These aren't students transferring to a CS curriculum. These are students in other majors taking the intro CS courses to(most likely) fill out a general education requirement and to get "computer skills" on their resume.
Hopefully, this will end up with more people actually understanding CS, but I'm not so sure that will ever happen...
