Interdisiplinarity - Gold
Computer Science Minor
Description
The computer science minor consisted of seven courses: the introductory computer science sequence up to data structures, discrete mathematics, and three electives. One of the electives was filled by my mathematics major, and the other two I chose in line with the goal for this experience. That is, I needed two electives that would help me better understand the structure of cyberspace and how it could be secured; to that end I took assembly programming, which explained how computer programs are fundamentally structured and hence what elements of that structure could be attacked, and cryptography, which focused more on theoretical methods of securing digital information. This thus covered a broad range of the technological and mathematical elements of cyberspace and how it is currently protected, providing a good foundation for learning about modern efforts to secure it.
Commitment and Connection
I satisfied this experience by completing a computer science minor. This minor required three classes, or 10 credit hours, beyond what counts towards my major, stretched out over four semesters. In the process of completing the minor I learned significantly more about the actual
software and hardware used in computing. The curriculum included programming experience,
internal logic and memory management, and other such topics that make up the fabric of
cyberspace. These are technical details that are supplementary to my primary field of study yet
still an integral part of cyberspace, and thus present another disciplinary view to my challenge.
As I have chosen the challenge securing cyberspace, it is obviously necessary to understand what cyberspace is. This minor provides exposure to the theory and implementation behind the software that constitutes much of cyberspace; accordingly the studies completed in this experience are not just related, but integral to my challenge.
Reflection
The biggest takeaway that I got from completing the minor is what kinds of work and concepts I'm the most comfortable with and enjoy the most. As the courses in the minor covered topics ranging from proper coding standards to currently used algorithms, I got the chance to see several different views of how cyberspace is constructed; in all of this I was the most intrigued by the theory, ranging from algorithms to computer organization. This helps me to determine what portion of this challenge I would like to focus on in my career, and hence how I can contribute to it in the future.
Learning Objectives
Integrity - All of the programming projects for the minor had to follow a set of coding standards, including what was and was not considered acceptable levels of assistance from classmates. This served to codify a sense of integrity, and help me see how I can evaluate my own actions and whether or not I'm behaving with integrity.
Perspectivism - Completing the minor involved interacting with the other students in the classes to some extent, most of whom are computer science majors and not just minors. These interactions helped me to see, even if only in an anecdotal sense, what skill sets and mindsets are common among programmers. This, in a very simple sense, helped me see the perspective of some of the coders whose work makes up cyberspace.
Realistic vision - Computer science is a technical field, closely related to engineering, where many of the classes are tailored to the idea of real-world usability. Concepts such as maintainability and re-usability play a large role in instruction and project completion, where they would be largely overlooked in most of my other studies. Accordingly by following through with these instructions I am being exposed to a much more realistic view of completing work, one where there are larger consequences than a one-time grade.
Teamwork - The biggest connection to teamwork in the minor is actually the lack of teamwork. Due to a focus on students learning all of the skills and concepts in every class, the amount of teamwork allowed is very limited. However, this has the side effect of showcasing just how difficult it is to do even small projects solo, and hence the importance of teamwork in a real project.
Persistence - As some of the classes for the minor were heavily project-based, I was required to complete several large programming assignments, including all necessary debugging and testing. It was expected that none of the projects would work correctly the first time, and the stream of assignments that each required multiple revisions was itself an exercise in persistence.
Flexibility - The programming projects that I had to complete for some of the courses in the minor were by far the most time-intensive assignments that I received in any of my classes. Balancing the workload and finding adequate time to complete the projects required a large amount of flexibility in my schedule and my list of priorities.
Interdisciplinary Learning
Identify the different disciplines that contribute to the solution of a complex problem.
Part of studying computer science involves identifying the limitations of computers, constrained by things such as physical resources and logic flow. As such learning about these limitations through this experience invites me to ask what other disciplines might be necessary to finish a solution when computer science itself is not enough; while this
does not give answers about the relevance of specific disciplines, it provides the opportunity to begin asking what else might be contributing.
Describe and apply strategies for creating common ground between different disciplinary perspectives.
Common ground between disciplines is easily found in the examples that are referenced over the course of these studies. The technical projects will all contain background sections describing how the interests of one discipline can be pursued by writing such a program; as such the very projects that I am doing hint at the common ground between computer science and its many disciplinary applications.
Describe and apply bridging strategies that facilitate the conscious integration of different disciplines
Over the course of completing this minor I will be taking some classes that focus on coding and implementation, and others that focus on algorithmic theory. The algorithmic theory is inherently mathematical, and thus easily accessible from my primary discipline; however, it is also by construction tied to the implementation covered in the other classes. As such it serves as a cross-disciplinary
bridge between my primary discipline and the technical disciplines involved in my challenge.