CS50

Last updated

CS50 (Computer Science 50) [a] is an introductory course on computer science taught at Harvard University by David J. Malan. The on-campus version of the course is Harvard's largest class with 800 students, 102 staff, and up to 2,200 participants in their regular hackathons. [7] [8] The course was first offered on campus in 1989, [9] and Malan has been the course's instructor since 2007. [10] Notable industry experts including Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Ballmer have given guest lectures. [11] [12]

Contents

An online version of the course, CS50x, is available through the platforms edX and OpenCourseWare and follows the same curriculum as the in-person format of the course. [13] [14] All CS50x course materials are free and there is no fee to complete the course, though various verified certificates are available for a fee. [15] As of 2024, CS50x teaches the languages C, Python, SQL, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It also teaches fundamental computer science concepts including data structures and the Flask framework. [13] New content is added to the course each year; additional lectures on cybersecurity and emoji were added for 2022. [16] Another adapted version of the course, CS50 AP, is designed for high school students and completes the required curriculum of AP Computer Science Principles. [17]

History

CS50 was first available in 1989. [9] Michael D. Smith was the professor of the course from 2002 to 2006, [18] after which point David J. Malan has been the primary professor. [10] Margo Seltzer, [19] Brian Yu, [20] and Doug Lloyd [21] have also taught the course. Guest lecturers have included Mark Zuckerberg (2005) [11] and Steve Ballmer (2014). [12]

Yale University began offering the course in 2015, becoming the second institution to teach an official version of the course. The course was offered experimentally for three years until it was added as a permanently-available course. [22] At Yale, CS50 is based on Malan's recorded lectures, which are then supplemented by in-person class sections and office hours, all in New Haven. [23] [24] [25] The University of Oxford is the third university to offer the course; [24] it is available as an online course through their Department for Continuing Education. [26]

In 2016, CS50's lecture schedule changed so that students would only have to attend two in-person lectures during the semester. Instead, lectures are now primarily delivered online. [27] In 2023, an AI-powered teaching assistant was introduced to the course. [28]

Course progression

CS32 (Computational Thinking and Problem Solving), taught by Michael D. Smith, [29] is an alternative to CS50 but does not have a free online version. [30] The next course in sequence after CS32 or CS50 is CS51: Abstraction and Design in Computation, instructed by Stuart M. Shieber with Brian Yu as co-instructor. [31] CS50 is primarily offered every fall semester, with CS51 being offered every spring semester. [32] [33]

CS50x

CS50x is a massive online open course and "one of the most popular MOOCs in the world." [34] CS50 first opened to online students in 2007, [35] but the CS50x course officially launched in 2012 as a course on edX. [36] The course content can also be taken through OpenCourseWare for those not seeking a verified certificate. [13] In its inaugural year, over 50 thousand students enrolled; [37] in the years since, it has become the largest MOOC on the edX platform. [38] In 2016, it was reported that around 700 thousand students were enrolled in CS50x. [39] In 2018, a freeCodeCamp article crowned CS50x as "the best MOOC." [40]

Format

There are 11 weeks of material in the CS50x course. Recordings of the on-campus lectures are recorded and uploaded to multiple platforms, including YouTube, Apple TV, and Google TV (one lecture per week). Additional recommended "section" and "shorts" videos are available, as well as "walkthrough" videos within the problem sets. After each week's material, the student submits a problem set, which automatically receives a calculated grade. At the end of the course, the student must submit a final project to complete the course or receive a verified certificate. [41]

Other CS50 courses

There are a variety of other CS50 courses available on edX and OpenCourseWare as of 2024, [42] [43] including courses on Python, R, and SQL, as well as CS50 AI and CS50 Web, with focuses on artificial intelligence and web applications, respectively.

Notes

  1. ↑ Occasionally subtitled Intensive Introduction to Computer Science, [1] [2] Introduction to Computer Science I, [3] [4] or simply Introduction to Computer Science. [5] [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Ballmer</span> American businessman and investor (born 1956)

Steven Anthony Ballmer is an American businessman and investor who was the chief executive officer of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a co-founder of Ballmer Group, a philanthropic investment company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Sedgewick (computer scientist)</span> American computer scientist

Robert Sedgewick is an American computer scientist. He is the founding chair and the William O. Baker Professor in Computer Science at Princeton University and was a member of the board of directors of Adobe Systems (1990–2016). He previously served on the faculty at Brown University and has held visiting research positions at Xerox PARC, Institute for Defense Analyses, and INRIA. His research expertise is in algorithm science, data structures, and analytic combinatorics. He is also active in developing college curriculums in computer science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard College</span> Undergraduate college of Harvard University in Massachusetts

Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard College is Harvard University's traditional undergraduate program, offering AB and SB degrees. It is highly selective, with fewer than four percent of applicants being offered admission as of 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard Extension School</span> Extension school of Harvard University

Harvard Extension School (HES) is the continuing education School of Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1910, it is one of the oldest liberal arts and continuing education schools in the United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, HES offers both part-time, open-enrollment courses, as well as selective undergraduate (ALB) and graduate (ALM) degrees primarily for nontraditional students. Academic certificates and a post-baccalaureate pre-medical certificate are also offered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Zuckerberg</span> American businessman (born 1984)

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American businessman who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms, of which he is the chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling shareholder. Zuckerberg has been the subject of multiple lawsuits regarding the creation and ownership of the website as well as issues such as user privacy.

A face book or facebook is a paper or online directory of individuals' photographs and names published by some American universities. In particular, the term denotes publications of this type distributed by university administrations at the start of the academic year, with the intention of helping students to get to know each other.

Michael David Smith is a professor at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences of Harvard University and has been serving as the school's interim dean since 2023. Smith's titles within Harvard include John H. Finley, Jr. Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Distinguished Service Professor. Smith's previous appointments as an academic administrator include service as dean of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry R. Lewis</span> American computer scientist (born 1947)

Harry Roy Lewis is an American computer scientist, mathe­ma­ti­cian, and uni­ver­sity admin­i­stra­tor known for his research in com­pu­ta­tional logic, textbooks in theoretical computer science, and writings on computing, higher education, and technology. He is Gordon McKay Research Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University, and was Dean of Harvard College from 1995 to 2003.

Andrew McCollum is an American angel investor and businessman. He is a co-founder of Facebook and the current chief executive officer of Philo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyler Winklevoss</span> American businessman and rower

Tyler Howard Winklevoss is an American investor, founder of Winklevoss Capital Management and Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, and former Olympic rower. Winklevoss co-founded HarvardConnection along with his brother Cameron Winklevoss and a Harvard classmate of theirs, Divya Narendra. In 2004, the Winklevoss brothers sued Mark Zuckerberg, claiming he stole their ConnectU idea to create the social networking service site Facebook. As a rower, Winklevoss competed in the men's pair rowing event at the 2008 Summer Olympics with his identical twin brother and rowing partner, Cameron.

Math 55 is a two-semester freshman undergraduate mathematics course at Harvard University founded by Lynn Loomis and Shlomo Sternberg. The official titles of the course are Studies in Algebra and Group Theory and Studies in Real and Complex Analysis. Previously, the official title was Honors Advanced Calculus and Linear Algebra. The course has gained reputation for its difficulty and accelerated pace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Ng</span> American artificial intelligence researcher

Andrew Yan-Tak Ng is a British-American computer scientist and technology entrepreneur focusing on machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). Ng was a cofounder and head of Google Brain and was the former Chief Scientist at Baidu, building the company's Artificial Intelligence Group into a team of several thousand people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Widom</span> American computer scientist

Jennifer Widom is an American computer scientist known for her work in database systems and data management. She is notable for foundational contributions to semi-structured data management and data stream management systems. Since 2017, Widom is the dean of the School of Engineering and professor of computer science at Stanford University. Her honors include the Fletcher Jones Professor of Computer Science and multiple lifetime achievement awards from the Association for Computing Machinery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massive open online course</span> Education service on the web

A massive open online course or an open online course is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the Web. In addition to traditional course materials, such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets, many MOOCs provide interactive courses with user forums or social media discussions to support community interactions among students, professors, and teaching assistants (TAs), as well as immediate feedback to quick quizzes and assignments. MOOCs are a widely researched development in distance education, first introduced in 2008, that emerged as a popular mode of learning in 2012, a year called the "Year of the MOOC".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coursera</span> Online education technology company

Coursera Inc. is an American global massive open online course provider. It was founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses, certifications, and degrees in a variety of subjects.

edX Online education provider

edX is a US for-profit online education platform owned by 2U since 2021. The platform's main focus is to manage a variety of offerings, including elite brand bootcamps.

A Small Private Online Course (SPOC) refers to a version of a MOOC used locally with on-campus students. University of California Berkeley Professor Armando Fox coined the word in 2013 to refer to a localized instance of a MOOC course that was in use in a business-to-business context. In this regard SPOCs are focused on certain groups of students, which are qualified to take the course and ready to interact with others throughout the learning process. Even though most institutions do not yet award formal recognition of SPOCs, Robert Lue, who runs HarvardX, the university’s digital arm, says that it is becoming more likely that prestigious universities begin to create SPOCs for course-credits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David J. Malan</span> American computer scientist and professor

David Jay Malan is an American computer scientist and professor. Malan is Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University, and is best known for teaching the course CS50, which is the largest open-learning course at Harvard University and Yale University and the largest massive open online course at EdX, with lectures being viewed by over a million people on the edX platform up to 2017.

Language MOOCs are web-based online courses freely accessible for a limited period of time, created for those interested in developing their skills in a foreign language. As Sokolik (2014) states, enrolment is large, free and not restricted to students by age or geographic location. They have to follow the format of a course, i.e., include a syllabus and schedule and offer the guidance of one or several instructors. The MOOCs are not so new, since courses with such characteristics had been available online for quite a lot of time before Dave Cormier coined the term 'MOOC' in 2008. Furthermore, MOOCs are generally regarded as the natural evolution of OERs, which are freely accessible materials used in Education for teaching, learning and assessment.

Georgia Tech Online Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS) is a Master of Science degree offered by the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. The program was launched in 2014 in partnership with Udacity and AT&T and delivered through the massive open online course (MOOC) format. Georgia Tech has received attention for offering an online master's degree program for under $7,000 that gives students from all over the world the opportunity to enroll in a top 10-ranked computer science program. The program has been recognized by the University Professional and Continuing Education Association, Fast Company, and the Reimagine Education Awards for excellence and innovation.

References

  1. ↑ "CSCI E-50: Intensive Introduction to Computer Science". Harvard Extension School . Retrieved September 22, 2024– via Harvard Division of Continuing Education.
  2. ↑ "CSCI S-50: Intensive Introduction to Computer Science". Harvard Summer School . Retrieved September 22, 2024– via Harvard Division of Continuing Education.
  3. ↑ Malan, David J. "CMU: COMPUTER SCIENCE 50" (PDF). Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  4. ↑ Bolotnikova, Marina N. (May–June 2016). "David Malan's Computer Science 50 expands to high-school classrooms". Harvard Magazine . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  5. ↑ "CS50: Introduction to Computer Science". Professional and Lifelong Learning. Harvard University . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  6. ↑ "CS50: Introduction to Computer Science". Harvard Online. Harvard University . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  7. ↑ Farrell, Michael B. (November 26, 2013). "Computer science course fills seats, needs at Harvard". The Boston Globe . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  8. ↑ Pappano, Laura (April 8, 2014). "10 Courses With a Twist". The New York Times . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  9. 1 2 Mendez, Cordelia F. (September 18, 2014). "This Is CS50". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  10. 1 2 Mete, Thomas J. (May 31, 2024). "'CS50 Changed My Life': 25 Years After Shuttleboy, David J. Malan '99 Reflects on Path to Teaching". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  11. 1 2 Smith, Michael D. (April 4, 2014) [December 7, 2005]. "CS50 Lecture by Mark Zuckerberg". CS50. Retrieved September 22, 2024– via YouTube.
  12. 1 2 Malan, David J. (November 13, 2014) [November 12, 2014]. "CS50 Lecture by Steve Ballmer". CS50. Retrieved September 22, 2024– via YouTube.
  13. 1 2 3 Malan, David J. "Welcome". CS50x 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  14. ↑ Malan, David J. (March 8, 2023). "Difference Between CS50 and CS50x". CS50. Retrieved September 22, 2024– via YouTube.
  15. ↑ Malan, David J. "FAQs". CS50x 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  16. ↑ Malan, David J. "What's new for 2022?". CS50x 2022. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  17. ↑ Malan, David J. "Hello, world!". CS50 AP. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Michael D. Smith". Harvard University . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  19. ↑ Seltzer, Margo. "Teaching". Margo Seltzer. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  20. ↑ Yu, Brian. "Teaching". Brian Yu. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  21. ↑ Lloyd, Doug. "Doug Lloyd". Doug Lloyd. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  22. ↑ Schussheim, Emily (February 23, 2018). "This is CS50: The Cult". Yale Daily News . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  23. ↑ Bernhard, Meg P. (November 26, 2014). "Harvard Approves Joint Yale CS50 Venture, Malan Says". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  24. 1 2 Kukulowicz, Caitlyn C.; Yu, Andrew (September 13, 2024). "Harvard's CS50 Course to be Offered at Oxford this Fall". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  25. ↑ "FAQs". CS50. Yale University . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  26. ↑ "CS50: An Introduction to Computer Science". Department for Continuing Education. University of Oxford . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  27. ↑ Fahs, C. Ramsey (August 31, 2016). "CS50 Moves Away from Traditional Lectures, Toward Virtual Reality". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  28. ↑ Raab, Ben (September 7, 2023). "CS50 introduces AI teaching assistant". Yale Daily News . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  29. ↑ Smith, Michael D. "CS 32: Computational Thinking and Problem Solving". Harvard University . Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  30. ↑ "Harvard CS Concentration: First-Year Exploration". Harvard University . Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  31. ↑ Shieber, Stuart M. "Home". Abstraction and Design in Computation. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  32. ↑ "Harvard CS Concentration: Courses". Harvard University . Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  33. ↑ "4 Year Plan". Harvard University . Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  34. ↑ "CS50: Introduction to Computer Science". Digital Skills & Jobs Platform. europa.eu . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  35. ↑ Thomas-Oxtoby, Sarah (June 14, 2023). "Nearly 5 million people have taken this online course—here's how it can kickstart your computer science career". Fortune . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  36. ↑ Rouse, Hana N.; Worland, Justin C. (October 16, 2012). "First Day of School for Harvard Online". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  37. ↑ "Harvard launches first edX courses". Harvard Magazine . November–December 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  38. ↑ "David J. Malan". Harvard Extension School . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  39. ↑ Bolotnikova, Marina N. (May–June 2016). "David Malan's Computer Science 50 expands to high-school classrooms". Harvard Magazine . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  40. ↑ Brunet, Jérémy (August 30, 2018). "And the award for the best MOOC goes to…?". freeCodeCamp . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  41. ↑ Malan, David J. "Syllabus". CS50x 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  42. ↑ "CS50: Computer Science Courses and Programs from Harvard". edX . Retrieved September 22, 2024.
  43. ↑ Malan, David J. "Courses". CS50x 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.