It is well known that many (probably most) students who come to university to study computer science arrive believing that computer science and programming are coextensive. Too often first (and sometimes second and third and so on) courses in computer science only reinforce that view, whereas one of the purposes of early computer science courses should be to disabuse the student as soon as possible of the idea that computer science equals programming.

This paper discusses an introductory course that requires essentially no programming and is designed to present computer science much as the classical laboratory sciences normally introduce their disciplines through a course that integrates lectures with weekly laboratories. In the laboratories, students investigate aspects of the subject matter of the lectures and write lab reports concerning what they have discovered. (Given the writing skills with which most computer science undergraduates come to college, requiring lab reports is one of the most important and valuable parts of the course.)

In addition to discussing the background, motivation, and general structure of the course, the paper describes the labs that accompany a three- to four-week unit on artificial intelligence. The other areas of computer science to which students are introduced are human/computer interaction, databases, programming languages, software engineering, computer architecture, and operating systems.