Reviewer Questions
Discovering Computers 2006: Complete
Thank you for agreeing to review the current edition of Discovering Computers! Your
comments and suggestions will help to guide us as we develop the 2007 edition. In
addition to any general ideas you might have, please respond to the following questions.
Be as specific as possible in your responses.
1. What is the course or class name where this book is used? Is this course required?
How many students are enrolled in this class (or in each section) each
semester/quarter? Please describe your typical student.
We use this text in ITSC 1301 Introduction to Computers & BCIS 1405 Business
Computer Applications. Either of these courses is required in all 5 of our degrees and
certificates. BCIS 1405 is required in the Management degree, also. Each semester
ITSC 1301 can have from 20-40 students per section. We normally have 3-4 sections.
BCIS 1405 can have 20-40 per section. We normally have 3 sections of 40 and 2
sections of 20 each semester. These courses are one of the first courses that students take
to enter one of the CIS degrees so they range in age from 17 to 80. Many have had
computer courses in high school but some have never touched a computer before and are
scared to death of one.
2. What browser is installed on your school’s computers?
Internet Explorer
3. What other classes are you teaching? What books are you using?
At present, ITSC 1301 & BCIS 1405 are the only classes I teach
4. What book do you currently use? What do you like most about it? What would be
the first thing you’d change about it? Do you use this book in conjunction with
any others? For example, do you supplement the book with one on applications?
We used Discovering Computers 2004 for the past two years, but are switching to 2006
for the next two years. We like that the text speaks directly to the students. It is written
in terms that anyone can understand. Many texts are written too much like a manual and
are hard to understand. The only thing I would change about it is that it not change every
year. I realize that the computer industry changes rapidly, but changing books every year
is difficult. There are normally not that many new things in a years time. Since you
started putting a year in the title, we chose to change every other year. For the ITSC
1301 course, this is the only book we use. For BCIS 1405 we supplement with one on
applications.
5. What other books have you considered? What about them interested you and what
about them dissuaded you from using them in your course?
We have used a Shelly/Cashman book for 15 – 20 years and have not considered any
other since then.
6. After reviewing the Shelly Cashman Discovering Computers 2006: Complete
table of contents, is there anything you immediately notice that’s missing,
irrelevant, or misplaced? Do you have specific suggestions for re-arrangement?
The only suggestion that I could make is that it might flow a little better if chapters 4 & 5
were reversed. We teach the information processing cycle, input, process, output, store,
and then the chapters are process, input, output , store.
7. Please comment on the overall look and feel of the text. Specifically, what are
your thoughts on general design, use of graphics and figures, and overall layout?
I feel the text is very appealing. Students enjoy the figures, and the layout of the book. It
gives them an idea of what being in a computer environment is like.
8. Please comment on the marginal features in the text: Web Link, At Issue, Looking
Ahead, FAQ, Quiz Yourself boxes. Do they add valuable content or
reinforcement? Do you use them in your class, or assign them for students outside
of class?
Marginal features are great. I use the web links in my on-line course to give the students
extra insight into the topics discussed and encourage my on campus students to use them
also. I do not assign anything for a grade, but some students need all the help they can
get, and they are the ones this portion of the book helps.
9. Does the end of chapter material in the current book, from the Career Corner
feature through the Case Studies page, meet your instructional needs? Would you
like to see a particular kind of exercise added, removed, or changed?
All is good for me.
10. Please comment on the instructor resources offering: both Instructor Resources
CD and Course Presenter. How would you change and/or improve upon the
current offering?
The instructor resources are wonderful. The powerpoint presentation included are very
long, but I just go through and choose which slides I need for my lectures.
11. Please indicate any other general thoughts about this book, as well as wish list for
an intro to computer concepts text.
As stated previously, we have used the Shelly Cashman Series book for many years and
keep using it because of the quality and language of the book. Students comment on the
ease with which they understand the topics presented. The only comment I have that
might be a little less than positive is that the book keeps growing. It gets harder to teach
everything that needs to be taught in a 16 week class with all the new technology. It’s
not enough for a two semester course, yet, but getting to the point that it is too much for
one semester.