Computer science Text book:
- “A textbook is a standardized manual used in formal study settings, such as high school and college environments”------ Erin Kathleen Cochran.
- “A textbook is a book used in schools or colleges for the formal study of a subject”.
–The American Heritage, Dictionary of the English Language
A computer science
textbook or course book is a manual of instruction in the branch of study. Computer science textbooks are produced
according to the demands of educational institutions.
Although most computer science
textbooks are only published in printed format, many are now available as
online electronic books and increasingly, although illegally, in scanned format
on file sharing networks.
Advantages of Computer
textbook:
Textbooks are especially helpful for
beginning teachers. The material to be covered and the design of each lesson
are carefully spelled out in detail.
Textbooks provide several advantages in the classroom.
- Textbook series provide balanced, chronological presentation of information.
- Textbooks provide organized units of work. A textbook gives all the plans and lessons that the students needs to cover a topic in some detail.
- Textbooks are a detailed sequence of teaching procedures that tell you what to do and when to do it. There are no surprises- everything is carefully spelled out.
- Textbooks provide administrators and teachers with a complete program. The series is typically based on the latest research and teaching strategies.
- Good textbooks are excellent teaching aids. They are resource for both the students and teachaers.
Qualities of Good Computer
Science textbook.
- Adequate
subject matter:
a) The
textbook should be according to the psychological needs and requirements of the
learner.
b) It
should be related to pupils’ environment.
c) It
should have a link with the modern technologies.
d) It
should have varied topics.
e) It
should be of practical utility and should be informative.
- Pictures and
illustrations:
a) Pictures
and illustrations should be relevant to the nature of the topic.
b) They
should be attractive and clear.
- Developing
programming skill:
a) A
textbook should provide necessary facilities for developing programming skills.
- Style:
a) The
style should be based on the principle of simple to complex.
b) The
subject matter should be presented in a logical sequence.
- Contents:
a) It
should contain sufficient and suitable teaching and exercises on each lesson.
b) The
instructions for each programme should be simple enough for students to
understand.
- Technical
characteristics:
a) The
paper used should be white and durable.
b) The
print should be attractive with no mistakes.
c) The
size should be bold for juniors and small for seniors.
d) The
headings and sub-headings should be in bold ltype.
e) It
should be bound properly.
f) The
book should be handy.
g) It
should be moderately priced.
- Practical
content:
a) The
textbook should contain practicals for the implementation and application.
b) It
should have proper explanation about algorithms and its process.
- Hardware and
software:
a) It
should contain the explanation of hardware and software and its usage with
adequate information.
Uses of textbook Inside the classroom
- Support: School textbooks are teachers’ best friends at the beginning of their teaching career. They generally contain everything that students are supposed to learn within a certain time frame, so new teachers can focus more on how they teach than on what to teach.
- Up-date Information: Textbooks are easy to use because of their structured form that goes from simple, basic issues to more complex ones in theory as well as in practice. They deal with “modern” trends and topics, so they appeal to students, making them want to study more.
- Stability and Reliability: The use of textbooks gives students stability and confidence. Having something real to rely on makes they feel secure. Textbooks are also a resource for self-directed learning, because students can use them wherever and whenever they want. They can read them slowly, at their own pace, or they can just skim the text for a gist. They provide the same instruction to different classes, so students can be evaluated using similar assessment tools. For administrators they provide a complete syllabus with objectives and teaching strategies to be used.
- Cost and Efficiency: Teacher-made materials are time consuming and make use of costly resources in great quantities such a paper, printers (with additional costs on maintenance ) and electricity. Textbooks are relatively inexpensive, ready to use and generally accompanied by audio or video materials related to the printed material that help students to develop several skills at the same time. Even if digital textbooks have made their way in people’s lives, classroom practices make extensive use of traditional textbooks as effective teaching and learning tools.
Use
of Textbook Outside classroom:
- Shifts
educational focus from secondary to primary sources:
Traditional classroom teaching uses textbooks, lectures, video and the
internet as instructional tools. The outdoor classroom exposes students through
direct experience to nature areas and demonstration models such as weather
stations, water flow systems and renew able energy installations.
- Uses
experiential teaching methodologies to engage students:
The outdoor classroom fosters active, hands-on, inquiry-based learning
in a real world setting. Through group
problem-solving activities students embrace the learning process as well as seeking
final outcomes.
- Makes learning
a multi-sensory experience: By
engaging the senses of touch, smell, hearing, tase and seeing. Students
retain an intimate physical memory of activities that are long lastsing.
- Fosters the use
of systems thinking: As a
mini-ecosystem, the outdoor classroom emphasizes the inter connectedness
of all things.
- Lends itself to
inter-disciplinary studies: In
seeking a holistic understanding of the outdoor classroom it is often
necessary and desirable, to employ multiple academic disciplines.
- Recognises and
celebrates deferring learning styles:
As popularized in Howad Gardner’s Theory of Multiple
Intelligences, people have a variety of aptitudes and ways of learning.
Although some students thrive in a text-based environment, others will
benefit from a more experiential approach.
- Connects the
school to the neighborhood and the world-at-large: Through learning and stewardship
activities students come to understand that their schoolyard microcosm
reflects global environmental issues. Proximity to the surrounding
neighbourhood often leads to service learning projects that emphasise
social involvement and responsibility.
- Design and
installation is of a modest capital expense: School systems often struggle with
budgetary issues in prioritizing initiatives. The cost/benefit ratio for
installing and sustaining an outdoor classroom is attractive and the goal
of an outdoor classroom in every schoolyard is achievable.
- Projects a
positive message about public education: Schoolyards can be degraded and unsafe
or vibrant, dynamic school/community open spaces. Either way, we send a
message to students and neighbourhood about how much we value the
education of our children. The outdoor classroom is a reminder that
innovation is alive and well in public education.
- Blurs the
boundaries between academic learning and creative play: Kids love the outdoor classroom. When a
teacher asks who wants to go outside every hand is raised. Absenteeism
goes down on outdoor classroom days. By preserving a child’s innate sense
of curiosity and wonder we will foster active and engaged lifelong
learners.
Criteria
for Evaluation of Computer Science Textbook
Computer science books can be evaluated using common criteria like the
ones listed below,
1.
Purpose
and Audience:
a) Determine
the approach used (fiction, nonfiction, opinion, or a mixture).
b) Read
introductory material.
c) Note
the tone and terminology used in the work.
d) Examine
the types of information, evidence, and examples used.
2.
Authority:
a)
Use biographical dictionaries and critical
essays to investigate the author.
b)
Search appropriate databases for works that
cite the book.
c)
Read reviews of the book (and other works by
the author).
d)
Find out if the author has written other
books or articles on the topic.
e)
Look on the dust jacket or in the preface
(double-check the information.)
3.
Accuracy
and Reliability:
a) Examine
the text for evidence of careful research.
b) Check
if data, statistics and facts are documented (and timely).
c) Double-check
information in the book with other sources.
d) Read
reviews in reputable sources.
e) Examine
the quality of items listed in the bibliography, if one is present.
f) Check
the publisher type: academic, commercial, independent, vanity, etc.
4.
Objectivity:
a) Examine
the writer’s claims. Are they logical and reasonable?
b) Examine
the evidence presented. Is it adequate and credible?
c) Read
reviews and critical essays about the book.
5.
Coverage:
a) Examine
the table of contents, chapter headings, and index.
b) Analyse
the breadth of content. Does it meet expectations?
Advantages of Computer
textbook:
Textbooks are especially helpful for beginning
teachers. The material to be covered and the design of each lesson are
carefully spelled out in detail.
Textbooks provide several advantages in the classroom.
1. Textbook series provide balanced,
chronological presentation of information.
2.Textbooks provide organized units of work.
A textbook gives all the plans and lessons that the students’ needs to
cover a topic in some detail.
3. Textbooks are a detailed sequence of
teaching procedures that tell you what to do and when to do it. There are
no surprises- everything is carefully spelled out.
4.Textbooks provide administrators and
teachers with a complete program. The series is typically based on the
latest research and teaching strategies.
5.Good textbooks are excellent teaching
aids. They are resource for both the students and teachers.
Computer Science
Library
Meaning of Computer science library
The Computer Science library
serves the academic and research needs of the Department of Computer Science by
providing journals, technical reports, and other scholarly materials to
faculty, researchers, and graduate students in the field of computer science,
the library is a vital resource for information.
In computer science, a library is a
collection of implementations of behavior, written in terms of a language that
has a well-defined interface by which the behaviour is invoked.
Importance
1.Develop technical and scientific attitudes among
students.
2. Develop the teachers to extend their Computer
science knowledge.
3. Help in putting progressive method of teaching
Computer science.
4. Facilitate self-study and self-education
5. Develop the students to be anxious to know more and
more about computer science.
6. Make the students know everything about the technical
world.
7. It acts as a source of inspiration for teachers.
8. It gives knowledge about the practical use of the
computer.
9. It provides suitable base to knowledge acquired in
classroom teaching.
10. It strengthen the linguistic abilities of the students.
Value
of Computer science library:
The Computer Science library serves the
academic and research needs of the Department of Computer Science by providing
journals, technical reports, and other scholarly materials to faculty,
researchers, and graduate students in the field of computer science, the
library is a vital resource for information.
In computer science, a library is a
collection of implementations of behavior, written in terms of a language that
has a well-defined interface by which the behaviour is invoked. In addition,
the behavour is provided for reuse by multiple independent programmes. A
programme invokes the library-provided behavour via a mechanism of the
language.
Library code is organized in such a way
that it can be used by multiple programmes that have no connection to each
other, while code that is part of a programme is organized to only be used
within that one programme. This distinction can gain a hierarchical notion when
a programme grows large, such as a multi-million-line programme. The
distinguishing feature is that a library is organized for the purposes of being
reused by independent programmes or sub-programmes, and the user only need to
know the interface, and not the internal details of the library.
The value of a library is the reuse of the
behavior. When a programme invokes a library, it gains the behavior itself.
Libraries encourage the sharing of code in a modular fashion, and ease the
distribution of the code.
Digital library:
A digital library is a library in which
collections are stored in digital formats (as opposed to print, microform, or
other media) and accessed remotely via computer networks. A digital llbrary is
a type of information retrieval system.
Advantages of Digital library:
- They are act as a means of easily and rapidly accessing books, archives and images of various types are now widely recognized by commercial interests and public bodies alike.
- Digital libraries have the potential to store much more information, simply because digital information requires very little physical space to contain it.
- As such, the cost of maintaining a digital library can be much lower than that of a traditional library.
- Digital libraries may reduce or in some instances, do away with these fees.
- Digital libraries may be more willing to adopt innovations in technology providing usedrs with improvements in electronic and audio book technology as well as presenting new forms of communication such as wikis and blogs
- An important advantage to digital conversion is increased accessibility to users. They also increase availability to individuals who may not be traditional patrons of a library, due to geographic location or organizational affiliation.
Ø
No
physical boundary: The user of a digital library need not to go to the
library physically; people from all over world can gain access to the same
information, as long as an Internet connection is available
Ø
Round
the clock availability : A major
advantage of digital libraries is that people can gain access 24/7 to the
information
Ø
Multiple
accesses: The same resources can be used simultaneously by a number of
institutions and patrons. This may not be the case for copyrighted materials ,a
library may have a license for “lending out” only one copy at a time, this is
achieved with a system of digital rights management where are source can become
inaccessible after expiration of the lending period or after the lender chooses
to make it inaccessible (equivalent to returning the resource).
Ø
Information
retrieval: The user is able
to use any search term (word,phrase,
title, name and subject) to search the entire collection. Digital libraries can
provide very user friendly interfaces, giving clickable access to its
resources.
Ø
Prevention
and conservation: Digitization
is not a long term preservation solution for physical collections, but does
succeed in providing access copies for materials that would otherwise fall to
degradation from repeated use. Digitised collections and born-digital objects,
pose many preservation and conservation concerns that analog materials do not.
Ø
Space: Whereas traditional libraries are limited by
storage space, digital libraries have the potential to store much more
information, simply because digital information requires very little physical
space to contain them and media storage technologies are more affordable than
ever before.
Ø
Added
value: Certain characteristics of objects, primarily the quality of
images, may be improved. Digitisation can enhance legibility and remove visible
flaws such as stains and discoloration.
Ø
Easily
accessible: The user is able to access the digital library easily.
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