Pervasiveness of a Programming Paradigm: Questions Concerning an Object-oriented Approach

This paper outlines the way in which a radical syllabus is being designed for the new introductory computing course being offered by the Open University from 1997. It describes how a decision to teach object-oriented programming has resulted in the associated concepts and paradigm pervading the syllabus. The result is a novel ped- agogy by which students take considerable time to begin conventional programming. The context for this innovatory approach is a very large student population (3,500 per year), a long lead time for developing courses, and a need to remain current six or seven years after conception. The background and the emerging syllabus are both summarized and questions concerning the teaching of the object-oriented approach are raised