How we rekindled our love affair with CS… …one couple's story. Harvey Mudd College Zachary Dodds

CS 1 for scientists breadth-first and -last

CS 1 for scientists breadth-first and -last CS's relevance synthetic creativityanalytic creativity return dot( sound, sinWave ) def fft( sound, freq ): sinWave = oneFreq( freq ) vs.

CS 1 for scientists breadth-first and -last CS ~ "Grady's glimpse" ~ beauty per se return dot( sound, sinWave ) def fft( sound, freq ): sinWave = oneFreq( freq ) vs. objects & classes imperative structures functional programming FSMs & Decidability machine- level

Data! 0.83 correlation !

Data! What is learned is the square root of what is taught correlation !

The Ramp success with hw problem extra credit and beyond! provided Compelling contexts and motivations… push gradesself-perception challengeexpectations pull big ideas Ownership & Creativity in CS 1 choose! mix-and-match shared experience

Results. 500% increase (in faculty involvement) … is reflected back. CS 0, offered Spring 2009 BioCS1, to be offered Fall 2009 applying for summer research more CS-savvy and more excited PBJA outward… CS 1 is where we are now most passionate. outreach to other departments Students are checking out CS 2… Faculty