Check if course is required in:
__X_Major/Emphasis (specify): Mathematics Major (BA/BS)
__X_Minor/Emphasis (specify): Computer Science Minor
__X_Other (specify): MCS Major
 

1. Detailed explanation of changes (use FROM/TO format)

Change in catalog description.
FROM:
An introduction to computer programming and its applications to science, business and education. Opportunity for extensive experience in designing and writing structured PASCAL programs.

TO:
An introduction to computer programming and its applications to science, business and education. Opportunity for extensive experience in designing and writing structured programs in the Visual Basic language.
 

Change in content.
FROM:
WEEK 1: Using the Turbo environment works hardware vs software; further Turbo examples;basic idea of top-down design

WEEK 2: Read; Readln; Write; Writeln; Var; Char; String; Const; Units Pascal data types; arithmetic operations on integers; order of operations Real numbers in Turbo Pascal; Real number functions--TRUNC, ROUND, SQR, SQRT, ABS.

WEEK 3: Boolean operators; order of operations If-Then & If-Then-Else constructions; WHILE loops EOF Boolean; File I/O

WEEK 4:  Nested If-Then-Else constructions, CASE construction

WEEK 5:  Nested WHILE-DO loops, REPEAT-UNTIL loops

WEEK 6:  FOR-DO loops; GOTOXY User defined Procedures (modules), actual vs. formal parameters & Value vs. Variable parameters

WEEK 7:  User-defined functions, Scope rules; global vs. local parameters

WEEK 8:  Further examples of scope rules, Data types user-defined types; sets

WEEK 9:  Strings in Pascal; string procedures, String handling functions in Pascal & examples EOLN and EOF Booleans

WEEK 10:  The Control Break Problem Arrays (single dimensional), Arrays used in procedures; sorting algorithms

WEEK 11:More sorting techniques, Binary Search algorithm, Problems using parallel arrays

WEEK 12:Record structures in Pascal

WEEK 13: Parallel Arrays vs. Arrays of records, Nested records; WITH statement

WEEK 14:  Two-dimensional arrays in Pascal

WEEK 15:  Non-text files
 

TO:
WEEK 1: Introduction to Application Development Using Visual Basic

WEEK 2: Visual Basic Fundamentals

WEEK 3: Working with Code and Forms

WEEK 4: Variables and Procedures

WEEK 5: Controlling Program Execution

WEEK 6: Debugging

WEEK 7: Working with Controls

WEEK 8: Data Access Using the ADO Data Control

WEEK 9: Input Validation

WEEK 10: Error Trapping

WEEK 11: Enhancing the User Interface

WEEK 12: Drag-and-Drop Operations

WEEK 13: More About Controls

WEEK 14: Interface Design Principles

WEEK 15: Packaging and Deployment Issues
 
 

2. Justification for action

For some years the course has been taught using the Borland Turbo PASCAL language. While this was an excellent language for the teaching of computer programming, the company no longer supports the compiler, so students and faculty are unable to purchase the necessary software. Visual Basic was chosen as a replacement because it is readily available to students through the State’s contract with Microsoft, because it will provide an excellent educational platform, and because knowledge of Visual Basic will be applicable to designing applications in Microsoft Access, Excel and Word.