Increasing the probability of success in the first computer science course

It is well known that many students struggle and eventually are unsuccessful in their attempt to complete their first computer science course. At Arizona State University, the first course taken by computer science majors and a few other majors is CSE 110. CSE110 teaches first year college students basic programming principles using the Java programming language. In order to do well in this course, students need to not only have a background in basic logical thinking, but also need to know basics about using computers along with Internet and file transfer protocol. To address this problem, a CSE110 workshop has been designed for incoming freshmen that have little or no background in computers. This paper defines the content and instruction of this workshop as well as an assessment of its effectiveness. To help ensure that future freshmen are better prepared, software development curriculum materials are being developed for use at the high school level. Two summer teacher workshops have already been held and a third is planned.