Does A Pre-Introduction Course Improve Subsequent Performance In Introduction To Computer Programming?

Abstract

A new Computer Science Introduction course is described.  Student grades and the withdraw rate for the next course are both improved, and the proportion of student Computer Science majors is increased.

Initial results indicate that the availability of the new Introduction to Computer Science (CSO) reduces the number of students who withdraw from the old Introduction to Computer Science (CS1) almost certainly because students who simply need an introduction to computers no longer sign up for CS1 – a computer science and computer programming course).  The limited data for students who took CS1 after completing CS0 do not as yet statistically support the hypothesis that CS0 will improve performance in CS1.  A higher proportion of students who completed both CS0 and CS1 declared Computer Science or Information Systems majors, than the proportion of those who just completed CS1.