Empirical investigation throughout the CS curriculum

Empirical skills are playing an increasingly important role in the computing profession and our society. But while traditional computer science curricula are effective in teaching software design skills, little attention has been paid to developing empirical investigative skills such as forming testable hypotheses, designing experiments, critiquing their validity, collecting data, explaining results, and drawing conclusions. In this paper, we describe an initiative at Dickinson College that integrates the development of empirical skills throughout the computer science curriculum. At the introductory level, students perform experiments, analyze the results, and discuss their conclusions. In subsequent courses, they develop their skills at designing, conducting and critiquing experiments through incrementally more open-ended assignments. By their senior year, they are capable of forming hypotheses, designing and conducting experiments, and presenting conclusions based on the results.