The Computer Science Education Crisis: Fact or Illusion?

Some contemporary or relatively recent articles, studied together, seem to suggest that computer science education is in a state of crisis. But, is it? This article examines the arguments. My preliminary findings is that if you examine the arguments from a positivist stance, you may well infer that there is a crisis, but if you view them from a constructivist perspective, the crisis becomes an illusion. Either way, the article concludes by setting a research question whose outcome may establish, more conclusively, if the crisis is indeed true or illusory. 2 1 Prolegomena Computer science is a very young discipline and, a fortiori, a controversial, much-maligned and misunderstood one - even amongst computer scientists. It is truly absurd that a discipline which has been so evidently successful still faces such a crisis of identity. Computers/computing have irrevocably changed society in ways totally unpredicted, even by some of its inventors and other illustrious commentators, as is e..