The Undergraduate Introductory Computer Course: A Comparison of Advanced with other Students

Abstract

This paper reports the survey results from students taking an introductory computer course at a major urban university. The primary finding is that two types of students populate the course. One can be profiled as an “Advanced” student who owns a computer, uses it about two hours a week, and has a breadth of package application experience. The other “Majority” profile is one of opposites. The different requirements of these two groups substantiated a plan to redesign the course to better serve the diverse needs of this disparate group. It consists of non-credit lab modules that, in effect, prepare all students to have an “Advanced” student profile of package application experience on entering the core computer course. The conclusions of this study have implications for curriculum researchers and introductory computer course developers.