Using open-source solutions to teach computing skills for student research

A course that relies on open-source software for teaching introductory computer programming and Web development to psychology graduate and advanced undergraduate students is described. The rationale, content, learning goals and outcomes of the course are described, along with the specific software used. The advantages of relying on open-source solutions rather than commercial software for implementing such a course are discussed.

[1]  David Lane.  Web Database Applications with PHP and MySQL , 2002 .

[2]  Arnold Robbins,et al.  Linux in a Nutshell , 1997 .

[3]  Larry Wall,et al.  Programming Perl , 1991 .

[4]  Matt Welsh,et al.  Running Linux , 1995 .

[5]  Rasmus Lerdorf,et al.  Programming PHP , 2002 .

[6]  Mary Reddick,et al.  Open courseware and shared knowledge in higher education , 2002, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[7]  Ian S. Graham.  XHTML 1.0 language and design sourcebook , 2000 .

[8]  Paul J. Deitel,et al.  Internet & World Wide Web How to Program , 1999 .

[9]  Michael H. Birnbaum,et al.  Introduction to Behavioral Research on the Internet , 2000 .

[10]  David Flanagan,et al.  JavaScript: The Definitive Guide , 1996 .

[11]  Matt Welsh,et al.  Running Linux (2nd ed.) , 1996 .

[12]  Paul J. Deitel,et al.  Perl How to Program , 2001 .

[13]  Larry Wall,et al.  Learning Perl , 1993 .

[14]  Ellen Siever,et al.  Linux in a nutshell (3rd ed.): a desktop quick reference , 2000 .

[15]  David M. Sargent.  On-line computers in psychology: A laboratory course for advanced psychology majors , 1996 .

[16]  Robert H. Morrow,et al.  CGI scripts: A strategy for between-subjects experimental group assignment on the World-Wide Web , 1998 .

[17]  W K Beagley.  Why we need more psychology programmers/ EL Knife, a data utility for transforming spreadsheets , 2001, Behavior research methods, instruments, & computers : a journal of the Psychonomic Society, Inc.

[18]  H. Kucera,et al.  Computational analysis of present-day American English , 1967 .