Felician University’s Institute for Information Sciences held its Second Ockham Lecture March 5 on the Rutherford Campus.

The lecture entitled, Literacy in a 21st Century Language was led by Karl Haviland, Felician’s Chief Information Officer. Haviland told those gathered at Ray’s Place, Bramucci Hall, “it’s important to measure and have standards for technological literacy, and the way we do that is through computer science education.” According to Code.org’s annual research document entitled “The State of CS”, less than 50% of high schools offer a single computer science related course, and Haviland says there is no NJ state plan for K-12 computer science education. Felician’s Institute for Information Sciences offers cutting-edge curriculum in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, and Information Sciences and includes undergraduate and graduate programs with a strong emphasis on employability.

Dr. Robert Clougherty, the Institute’s Director, wants attendees to remember good computer science is not just focusing on code but also understanding the thought process. “And the logic is, once you have those thought processes down and that logic, and you understand the information sciences, then the code is very easy. But until you figure out how to solve the problem, all the code in the world won’t do you any good.”

In his lecture Haviland said the fundamental building block of technology is problem solving and, “if we can teach students how to break problems into pieces, put those pieces in order, and be able to follow through solving one piece at a time, we can bring students closer to technology.”

Felician University’s Director of Counseling Services Sharon McNulty liked the lecture’s theme of solving problems incrementally, saying it works whether you are talking about a computer problem or a mental health issue adding, “how you approach it gradually over time, rather than tackle the hardest problem first, get overwhelmed, and shut down. That’s similar to what we would also recommend in mental health, to problem solve incrementally.”

Haviland said the most important thing he wanted lecture attendees to take away from the talk was that, “solving incrementally hard problems is not the same as incrementally solving hard problems.” In other words, solving problems that get increasingly more difficult is not the same as using small but measured steps to solve problems.

To view the entire lecture click here.

Named for the medieval Franciscan philosopher William of Ockham, the lecture series asks engaging questions on how information is created, processed, and conveyed. The lectures are held the first Thursday of the month, and are free to the general public. The April lecture will feature Dr. Gordon Charlop, a floor Governor at the NY Stock Exchange, Managing Director and Partner, of Rosenblatt Securities, and a CNBC commentator, who will talk about information technology and its impact on Wall Street.

About Felician University

Felician University engages over 2,300 undergraduate, graduate, and adult students through programs in Arts & Sciences, Business, Nursing, and Education. Universal Franciscan values of social justice, compassion, and respect for human dignity serve as an inclusive foundation for transforming the lives of tomorrow’s leaders. Felician University’s education is ranked 3rd best return on investment for private colleges in New Jersey 2018 by the PayScale.com College ROI Report and is ranked #1 safest college campus in the state by niche.com.