Application of Non-Programming Focused Treisman-Style Workshops in Introductory Computer Science

In the 1960s and 70s, Uri Treisman developed a specific style of workshops to encourage the retention of underrepresented minority students in Calculus courses at the University of California, Berkley. Since that time, workshops based on the Treisman model have been successfully implemented across the United States and have resulted in more underrepresented minority students successfully completing Calculus. Some attempts have been made to translate the Treisman model to Introductory Computer Science, but all previous attempts have been focused on programming skills. However, one of the student assumptions that deter women and underrepresented minorities from attempting a major or minor in Computer Science is that a computer scientist is purely a solitary programmer [11]. In this paper, we discuss a specific two year pilot program of non-programming focused Treisman-style workshops in conjunction with a Introductory Computer Science course.