Growing the Pipeline: Restructuring an Introductory Computer Programming Course

New data show that students\´ interest in computer science is declining. It has been noted that lower enrollment may be due to the bust of the "dot com " industry, to the perception that computer science jobs have been outsourced, and to the way that the discipline is being introduced and taught to a group of students who have grown up using the computer. The current research is an exploratory study that investigates computer self-efficacy and its influence in the decision to participate in collaborative learning in an introductory computer programming course. Preliminary results of the study find that students have a healthy sense of their computing abilities and that computer self-efficacy does not impact their decision to participate in a collaborative learning experience.