The computer science stalemate
By Harper Davis ‘24
Photo courtesy of Harper Davis
There’s a long-standing problem with the computer science department. One that affects both those who are passionate about the subject and those who are just curious. But it’s also a problem that may not have an easy solution.
The issue is that computer science classes don’t count as credit for graduating from Catlin Gabel School (CGS). But it’s not exactly that simple. “Computer Science counts 100% towards the overall credits you need for graduation,” said Computer Science Teacher Andrew Merrill. “If you look at your transcript, it counts as a full credit class. It calculates into your GPA.”
While computer science classes count towards the minimum number of required classes and are included in your GPA, the real issue lies in the fact that computer science doesn’t count as a credit towards any other department, such as art or science. This has the consequence that computer science takes up a block in a schedule that could otherwise be used for credits in a different department.
“The credit issue has been here the whole time,” said Merrill. This is Merrill’s 25th year at CGS, and the computer science department has existed at the school for around 40 years.
To graduate from CGS, a student must take at least two full years of art, three full years of science, three full years of a singular foreign language, four years of English, and complete Algebra II. For die-hard computer science students, some of these credits can be quite a challenge.
Senior Scooch Herbst has taken computer science for every year of high school and has experienced the consequences of this issue. “I have not actually been able to enroll in an arts class,” said Herbst. “All of my arts credits, I’ve gotten doing the play.”
Arts credits are one of the most common credits in deficit for computer science students. Many students who participate in both the computer science and engineering program end up taking morning choir because it doesn’t conflict with afternoon extracurriculars, such as engineering.
“It’s great that morning choir exists,” said junior Jack Sturman, who has taken both computer science and morning choir for this reason. “If given the opportunity to not take choir, I probably wouldn't take it,” said Sturman.
Even still, he doesn’t completely discredit choir as a class. “I will say, I think choir is a great class,” said Sturman. “It’s really helped me to feel more confident.”
Herbst, Sturman, and Merrill all advocate for the benefits of learning computer science. Herbst attests that it has helped build her problem-solving skills, and speaks to the handiness in her everyday life. “It’s just a really useful skill to have … a general knowledge of how code works.”
Sturman sees it as an applied version of science or mathematics and agrees that it practices problem-solving skills. “It teaches you how to think differently,” said Sturman.
“I think it hits a really nice combination of being intellectually engaging material that's also immediately practical,” said Merrill. “And that's a hard combination to find.”
An additional consequence of this issue is the potential for prospective students to not take the class, or not pursue further classes, due to the absence of other departmental credits. Those who would be curious about the subject could be dissuaded just because they need credits in other departments.
“Unfortunately, I don’t know,” said Merrill when asked if he thought this was true, “but I certainly suspect that’s the case.”
“Are there students who want to take computer science but are choosing not to? If you don’t want to… and you’re choosing not to, that’s fine. If you want to take it and aren’t, it would be great to find out…what’s stopping you?” said Merrill. “And if this is it, then that seems like we should probably work on this, right?”
There are many potential solutions for this problem, but each comes with its own upsides and downsides. Perhaps the most popular suggestion is having computer science be worth at least some amount of arts credits.
Sophomore Azalea Colburn, the only sophomore in the fourth-year research class, supports this solution. “I think especially in more advanced [computer science] classes,” said Colburn. “The creativity and artistry required to succeed are great enough for it to be considered for an arts credit. … [T]he more and more I learn about the intricacies of computers and how to utilize them in interesting and creative ways, the more I see this hobby as an art.”
In freshman year, Sturman wrote a paper advocating for this solution. However, he no longer agrees with this. “I think it’s unfair to the arts department,” said Sturman.
Herbst and Merrill also believe that computer science and arts are conceptually very different. “Computer science is a lot of logic and critical thinking, while arts is more of creativity and getting in touch with, like, emotions,” said Herbst.
“The approach to looking at the world that you learn in doing art is simply different than it is in other subjects,” agreed Merrill. “We think you're a better person for having delved into the world of the arts.”
One interesting idea is the concept of hybrid classes, potentially something like “computer graphics programming,” that would be worth half of each credit. But this presents its challenges, such as requiring a teacher who specializes in each subject.
“It's also hard to teach them for faculty reasons,” said Merrill. “If you have two teachers in the room at the same time, both teachers are busy [and] now they're not teaching another class then. Now, could we decide that interdisciplinary education is so important that we're going to hire extra teachers to support that? That would be cool, but that costs money and that's a bigger project.”
Apart from large-scale redesigns of Catlin’s curriculum, feasible solutions are hard to come by. “If we were starting over from scratch making a high school would we organize it around these departments?” asked Merrill. “Or would we come up with some other system? It's a good question. Maybe we'd come up with a better system.”
Making changes like these is also logistically difficult. “You know, if we're currently requiring a certain number of years of work in any given department, and we change that, that has the possibility of significantly changing the number of students who take that subject, meaning we might need to hire more or fewer teachers than we are now,” said Merrill. “We don't take such decisions lightly.”
The computer science department has made a substantial impact on many. For now, it seems, the department will remain the same, but it’s up to the community to advocate for change. Perhaps one day there will be a solution that can satisfy everyone.