Tangible media approaches to introductory computer science

Computing is an increasingly important component of many jobs and demand for computing skills is far outpacing the number of computationally literate workers available. Non-majors, adult learners, and other non-traditional students can potentially fill some of these positions. However, traditional CS education pathways do not currently address the unique needs of these students. New approaches to CS education that fit with the goals and lifestyles of non-traditional CS students are needed. In line with Computational Media approaches known to be successful with non-majors, we designed and implemented two graduate-level courses, one using a Pixelsense and the other using Arduino, to teach computational thinking, programming, and design skills. We compare findings from these two courses with specific focus on non-major graduate students, but including topics relevant for traditional CS educators, such as, the importance of choice of platform, structure of assignments, maintaining student motivation, and the impact of self-guided final projects.