Treffer: TEACHING ALGORITHMS AS LANGUAGE UNSPECIFIC TOPICS OF CS CURRICULA: A CASE OF SHUFFLE ALGORITHM.

Most instructors deliver "Data Structure and Algorithm" as an intermediate-level survey course using a particular programming language such as C++ or Java. Many instructors lead students through an exhaustive survey of every basic algorithm and variations of them with textbooks' sample codes or instructions of implementations of these algorithms, without relating them to real-world applications. As a result, "Data Structure and Algorithm" courses often become another advanced programming language course, while its intended purpose to enhance students' problem-solving skills is largely overlooked. In this paper, the author advocates the need to teach topics of algorithms on a language-unspecific basis, meaning that algorithms can be programmed using any programming language or teaching algorithms void of any programming languages. The author believes it is important to walk students through some simple, easy-to-do hand-coding activities to demonstrate the use of algorithm in life-related applications. The author also uses a simple "shuffle algorithm" to describe how he achieved this goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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