Considerations for updating programming courses

Educators in computing-related degree programs (CS, IT, and IS) may need to regularly update their courses and programs to keep them relevant to the in-demand industry skills. Continuous and rapid changes require regular revisions in computing programs and curricula. Courses that teach computer programming, especially introductory programming language courses, need to be updated to reflect the languages in demand in the industry. Not being current with curriculum updates for these courses will likely put the programs behind due to outdated curricula. This is the case for the computer science (CS) program at a university located in Western Pennsylvania. The syllabi for the programming courses have not been updated for some time. In the process of updating the programming courses, an important question to address is the critical factors to consider when updating the syllabi of the programming course(s). This paper reviews the relevant literature and discusses the factors to be taken into consideration when updating computer programming courses. A set of recommendations for course updates are provided toward the end of the paper.