2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Effectively conveying the importance and breadth of every level of abstraction to students through instruction is emerging as a critical challenge to cultivating the next generation of computer scientists. Students should not only learn the science and engineering of computing, but understand the computer programming as an art form in order to promote computational thinking. In this paper, an extended metaphor of the levels of abstraction in a computer and Stevie Wonder's seminal hit song Superstition is presented. Superstition is widely studied in introductory music theory classes to show how the repetitive grooves of funk music create a powerful and complex flow, and how that flow allows musical artists to use harmonic progression, vocals, and instrumentation to imbue songs with deeper meaning. Likewise, the repetitive processing in a computer architecture creates a power and complex data flow, which allows computer scientists to use data structures and algorithms, procedural and object-oriented programming, and logic design to imbue programs with efficiency, usability, and robustness.

The Superstition Lecture is presented as a course review for CS0, CS1, and CS2 computer science courses, as well as a preview for future course material. Because these courses are pre-requisite for most CS courses in academic curricula, reinforcing the importance of the concepts they have learned - and tying them to future concepts - is critical for setting students up for success. We present Stevie Wonder’s use of synthesizers, drum figures ostinato, and cadential progression in Superstition as a form of “musical computer programming”. These comparisons provide introductory students insights into advanced computing concepts, including machine learning algorithms, hardware side-channel attacks, and the importance and career benefits of diversifying computing skills at several levels of abstraction.