Computer Science 1 — Outcomes Mapping¶

Course objectives → ABET CAC student outcomes → ACM/IEEE-CS CS2023 knowledge areas¶

Purpose: demonstrate that CS 1050 materials are deliberately aligned to (1) the ABET Computing Accreditation Commission student outcomes under which MSU Denver's CS B.S. is accredited, and (2) the ACM/IEEE-CS CS2023 curricular knowledge areas. Doubles as a build-in-public content asset and a tested-experience artifact.

Draft status (2026-06-14): mappings are the author's reasoned alignment, not an official department or ABET determination.

How to read this page

This page is instructor- and accreditation-facing — the formal crosswalk from course objectives to ABET student outcomes and CS2023 knowledge areas. Students: nothing here is required reading; it exists so every lecture's "For instructors" note can trace its alignment claim to a source. Instructors: tag content by joining on the objective number, never on a unit integer (the spine and catalog use different unit schemes).

Reference: ABET CAC student outcomes (computing programs)¶

(SO-1) Analyze a complex computing problem and apply principles of computing and other relevant disciplines to identify solutions.
(SO-2) Design, implement, and evaluate a computing-based solution to meet a given set of computing requirements.
(SO-3) Communicate effectively in a variety of professional contexts.
(SO-4) Recognize professional responsibilities and make informed judgments in computing practice based on legal and ethical principles.
(SO-5) Function effectively as a member or leader of a team.
(SO-6) Apply computer science theory and software development fundamentals to produce computing-based solutions. (CS-specific)

Reference: CS2023 knowledge areas used here¶

SDF — Software Development Fundamentals
FPL — Foundations of Programming Languages
SE — Software Engineering
AL — Algorithmic Foundations
SEP — Society, Ethics, and Professionalism

Mapping table¶

#	CS 1050 objective	ABET SO	CS2023 KA	Course-of-record unit(s)
1	Solve simple-to-medium problems by writing correct programs	SO-1, SO-2, SO-6	SDF, AL	1, 2, all
2	Document code clearly and appropriately	SO-3, SO-6	SE, SDF	2, 6
3	Decompose a problem into modular components	SO-2, SO-6	SDF, SE	2, 3 (functions), 9-design
4	Declare and use classes, methods, and variables	SO-2, SO-6	FPL, SDF	4, 6
5	Use parameters and return values correctly	SO-2, SO-6	FPL, SDF	6 (functions)
6	Write expressions; use decision and loop control structures	SO-2, SO-6	SDF, FPL	4, 7, 8
7	Use core data types (int, real, char, bool, array/list, string)	SO-6	FPL, SDF	4, 9
8	Perform interactive and file I/O	SO-2, SO-6	SDF	5
9	Apply top-down design and stepwise refinement	SO-1, SO-2	SE, SDF	2, 9-design
10	Reason about scope and visibility of identifiers	SO-6	FPL	6
11	Test and debug programs systematically	SO-2, SO-6	SE, SDF	3
12	State the steps of the software development life cycle	SO-1, SO-6	SE	2
—	Written report / oral presentation (course-of-record)	SO-3, SO-4	SEP, SE	labs/assignments writing thread

Reading the last column — and how to tag a lecture. The Course-of-record unit(s) column uses the 9 catalog (course-of-record) units (the course-of-record coverage scheme; e.g. CoR unit 4 = Data Types & Variables). These are NOT the 13-unit teaching-spine numbers used for unit folders (unitNN_topic/), where 4 = Strings. The two schemes deliberately reuse the same integers, so never tag a lecture by matching unit numbers. The stable join key is the objective # (1–12): a lecture declares the objective(s) it covers (see the crosswalk below), then this table maps each objective → ABET SO + CS2023 KA.

Coverage summary (ABET SO → where assessed)¶

ABET SO	Covered by objectives	Primary assessment
SO-1 (analyze)	1, 9, 12	assignments, exams
SO-2 (design/implement/evaluate)	1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11	assignments, labs, exams
SO-3 (communicate)	2, + writing/presentation	research paper, oral presentation, code documentation
SO-4 (professional/ethical)	writing/presentation thread	research paper / book report (ethics topic option)
SO-5 (teamwork)	not a primary CS1 outcome	optional paired lab(s); revisit at course level
SO-6 (CS theory + dev fundamentals)	1–12	assignments, labs, exams

Gap note: SO-5 (teamwork) is only lightly touched by a single-author CS1. That's expected — it's carried more heavily by later courses. If the department wants CS1 to contribute to SO-5, add at least one paired/collaborative lab and assess it explicitly.

Lecture-to-objective crosswalk (tagging key)¶

Added 2026-06-20. The authoritative source for tagging a lecture's outcomes — join on the objective #, never on a unit integer. Spine unit + week are exact (spine→obj mirrors design_rationale; weeks from schedule_fall2026). The CoR unit column is a best-effort accreditation cross-reference only — the 9-unit catalog scheme doesn't map 1:1 to the spine.

Spine unit (folder `NN_`)	Topic	Week(s)	Objective(s)	CoR unit(s)
0	What is computation / how programs run	1	12	1 (+2)
1	Values, types, variables, expressions, I/O	1–2	6, 7, 8	4, 5
2	Decisions / branching	2	6	7
3	Iteration / loops	3	6	8
4	Strings & sequence basics	4	6, 7	4
5	Functions: decomposition, parameters, scope	5	3, 4, 5, 10	2 (decomposition)
6	Lists, tuples, mutability & aliasing	6	7	9
7	Dictionaries & sets	7	7	9
8	Files & exceptions	9	8	5
9	Testing & debugging	7	11	3
10	Classes & OOP (+ intro inheritance)	10–11	4, 10	6
11	Recursion	12	1, 9	— (problem-solving; no clean CoR unit)
12	Algorithms: search, sort, intro Big-O	13	1, 9	9

(Module 0 — Python setup — is an enabler with no objective mapping.)

To fill a lecture's "Objectives (ABET-mapped)" section: spine unit → its Objective(s) here → each objective's ABET SO + CS2023 KA from the mapping table. Example: 00_what_is_computation (spine 0) → objective 12 → SO-1, SO-6 / CS2023 SE.