The ten weeks of the module will be devoted to addressing the following questions:

1. Orientation
   • To what extent have the problems that underlie the 'software crisis' been resolved?
   • Can current principles and tools for software development meet the additional challenges that contemporary use of computers present?
2. Construals
   • Do we / why do we need a science of computing that is broader than 'computational thinking' supports?
   • What alternative core focus is there for computer science other than programming?
3. Making construals
   • What principles and tools are best suited to making construals?
   • What role can the computer play in their construction?
4. Programming paradigms
   • Is every principled way to use the computer just a different style of programming a Turing machine?
   • Is it possible to resolve the problems of software development by integrating different styles of programming, and why is this so difficult?
5. Formalism
   • What is the role and potential for formal specification and verification in software development?
   • Is there any alternative basis on which the quality of software can be assured?
6. Development process
   • To what extent can techniques such as agile development and scripting resolve the problems of meeting users' evolving requirements?
   • Can the demands of users of the web, mobile devices and embedded systems for ways to customise applications flexibly in the stream-of-thought be addressed within the conceptual framework of software development as currently understood?
7. Learning
   • How well is current thinking about software development suited to the constructionist goal of establishing an intimate link between development and domain learning?
   • What can be learned from parallel research in educational technology?
8. Concurrency
   • How well do current software development techniques address the need to represent and reconcile the perspectives of all the state-changing agents in a complex system?
   • Do informal commonsense notions of concurrency have any place in software development?
     
9. Multi-agent development
   • How can we integrate the design activities of the many different participants in complex software system development, as when supporting distributed participatory design?
   • What kinds of development approach can help us to achieve conceptual integrity?
10. Retrospect and prospect
    • How far does the reconceptualisation of computing associated with making construals address the challenges of software development?
    • What further development of the principles and tools is needed?