Mini‐languages for non‐computer science majors: what are the benefits?

Mini‐languages for teaching principles of programming ‐ such as Karel the Robot ‐ were once used in top computer science departments to provide a “gentle introduction” to programming for computer science majors. The paper builds a case for the use of mini‐languages in the context of introductory programming courses for non‐computer science major. We present a study that explored the use of Karel to teach introductory programming for information science majors.