The Tufts Department of Computer Science has announced a major change in its curriculum, with the introductory course “Introduction to Computer Science” — or CS11 — now requiring students to have prior coding experience before enrolling. The addition of a prerequisite will be implemented starting in spring 2025.
To fulfill their prerequisite, Arts & Sciences students seeking to enroll in introductory computer science courses this coming spring semester are encouraged to enroll in CS10, a course that will supply students with the fundamentals covered quickly in the first weeks of CS11. Alternatively, they have the option to opt out of taking CS10 by passing an exam conducted similarly to the Tufts language placement exams. Engineering students are encouraged to enroll in ES2, with the option to take an exemption exam like that of CS10.
Dave Lillethun, an assistant teaching professor in the CS department, wrote in a statement to the Daily that the department made the change following a growing number of students with prior programming experience enrolling in CS11. The department observed this increase after the creation of a committee several years ago designed to evaluate if CS introductory courses were aiding students.
According to Lillethun, the department was worried that students without prior experience in programming were left “feeling they are not doing well or don’t belong in the class because other students who have a leg up from their prior experience appear to ‘catch on’ quicker.”
According to Richard Townsend, an assistant professor in the CS Department, the goal of adding a prerequisite was to ensure that students were in the right courses for their skill level.
“It was the committee’s professional opinion that adding this prerequisite would better serve the wide diversity of student backgrounds, instead of forcing all students to follow the same path,” he wrote.
When asked whether he considered CS11 to be a “weed out” class, CS Department Chair Jeff Foster wrote, “The department wants every student who wishes to be a CS major to be able to do so. We think the introduction of CS10 will help us achieve this goal.”
Sophomore and CS11 teaching assistant Aryaa Modi, who took CS11 last fall, praised the department’s decision to introduce a prerequisite course for the class.
“I think a [prerequisite] is great. I think it’ll get more students … up to pace and help them [spend] more time on the key concepts, instead of just spending a couple weeks,” she said. “Maybe this makes CS a little less intimidating and [tries] to help people find the fun in it a little more.”
Modi says she didn’t believe CS11 was being used as a weed-out course. However, former CS11 student Sophie Clemens, a junior, offered a different perspective.
“I would consider it a weed-out class because I’m not going to pretend that it’s not difficult. You do need to be committed to the major and be willing to struggle and put in effort,” she said. "[The addition of a prerequisite] definitely takes care of the students who are struggling a lot in CS11 and makes them feel more prepared for the major and might convince them to stay.”
Clemens said that she personally was not happy with the department’s decision to add prerequisites for CS11.
“I think if I’d had to take CS10 instead of CS11, I would have just been frustrated. … It means I would have had to [have] taken all my other courses a semester later,” she said. “As of right now I’m going to be taking core CS classes up until my last semester of senior year.”
Modi pointed out that the current 2027 degree sheet recommends taking CS11 in the spring of one’s first year, meaning that students would have to take CS10 their freshman fall.
“Students with no programming experience … just kind of have to keep [that] in their mind and start their degree a little sooner,” she said.
While both Modi and Clemens expressed that CS11 can be a difficult class for some students, they also noted that the department offers a lot of support.
Clemens noted that when she took CS11 in fall 2022, many resources were offered to her, the lectures were very helpful and there were office hours “all day, every day.” Modi recalled her CS11 professor forbidding “showboat questions” from students in the class in order to avoid making less experienced students question if they were out of place.
The first CS10 exemption exam will be held on Oct. 9 and will be the first step in revealing how the greater Tufts community, specifically students interested in entering into computer science, react to the addition of prerequisite requirements for CS11.
