CuraCourseCourses built with CuraCourse.
A look at courses instructors teach with CuraCourse, starting with Introduction to Computing & AI.
Computing for students who aren’t CS majors.
Introduction to Computing & AI is a project-based course for non-majors covering programming, cybersecurity, data storytelling, and responsible AI. It was first developed at the University of Rhode Island as CSC 101 by Jessie Barrett and Dr. Vic Fay-Wolfe, and it is also taught in Rhode Island high schools, where students earn URI credit through concurrent enrollment.
- Audience
- Students new to computing
- Format
- Online lessons and weekly lab
- Taught at
- URI and over 40 Rhode Island high schools
- Prerequisites
- No prior programming required
The course design
The course assumes students come from many majors and may never have written code. It ties computing to things they already deal with, like data, online security, and AI.
Online lessons pair with a weekly lab. Instructors get a clear order to teach in, and students get hands-on tasks.
In Rhode Island high schools
High school students can take CSC 101 for URI credit through the university’s concurrent enrollment program. The course is now offered in over 40 Rhode Island high schools.
With CuraCourse, URI gives every high school the same lessons, activities, and labs taught on campus. High school teachers teach from that material, so the course stays as rigorous as the campus version.
What students work on
- Programming: use code to solve small problems and create computing artifacts.
- AI literacy: explore AI capabilities, limitations, and responsible use.
- Cybersecurity: examine the internet, common threats, and protection strategies.
- Data and ethics: analyze information, communicate findings, and discuss computing’s effects on society.
Explore the curriculum
This page describes the course, not measured student results. The course overview has sample material, learning goals, and how to adopt it.