User participation and participatory design (PD) have not yet been top
ics of central interest in the context of formal education for computi
ng professionals. This article addresses this subject. It takes its st
arting point in the ongoing curriculum debate and discusses how mathem
atical- and engineering-based approaches and traditional system-develo
pment training contribute to education in computer science and informa
tics. All these approaches have shortcomings as they each relate mainl
y to a technical-oriented paradigm, which pays little attention to oth
er vital aspects of computing, namely organizational, social, and poli
tical ones. Therefore, the curriculum debate is widened and it is argu
ed why user participation and PD (as approaches that deal with these i
ssues) should be part of a comprehensive computing education. An examp
le of an actual course program and the description of one particular c
ourse demonstrate how these subjects can be integrated in computer sci
ence and system development education.