ABSTRACT
Computer science (CS) focuses on some combination of three elements: surfing the Web, playing games, and hacking. Further, the potential students often believe that computing is solitary, mindless button-pushing, and anti-social. In contrast, keynote speakers at the ITiCSE 2007 conference highlighted perspectives what can make computer science exciting and attractive to potential students and professionals alike. However, every CS1/CS2 course inevitably portrays an image of the discipline, and considering that image may have an important impact on the recruitment and retention of students. Models for CS1/CS2 indicate that CS1/CS2 courses can reach out to diverse populations, just as the new AP CS Principles course is designed for outreach. An ongoing challenge for the computing-education community is to incorporate these successful models broadly—not discouraging beginning students, but capturing their imaginations and intellect.
