Computer Science I

  • Earn 3 transferable credits
  • 100% online and Zoom-free
  •  Includes everything you need

Available through dual enrollment at partner high schools

College Credits

Earn 3 credits to save time + money on your degree

Engaging Experience

Top-rated instructors, interactive textbooks + cinematic lectures

In Your High School

The support + structure to thrive in your first college experience

  • Overview
  • Instructors
  • How It Works
  • Support

Overview

In this groundbreaking course taught by world-class instructors, you’ll learn essential programming skills in Java.

You'll code a Sudoku puzzle-solver, as well as your own survival game with an array of dangerous characters.

Plus, you’ll develop practical skills for in-demand tech careers—such as testing and debugging code, error handling, and defensive programming.



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Instructors

We hand-picked our instructors specifically because they offer a uniquely human take on computer science.

Using a custom interface to code alongside professors Xanda Schofield and Michael Lee, you’ll experience just how approachable, accessible, and inclusive computer science can be.



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How It Works

Enjoy cinematic video lessons and code along with your instructors in our custom interface.

Enhance your learning with gorgeous interactive textbooks based on evidence-based active learning principles.



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Support

Our two code ambassadors will be with you every step of the way to guide you through real-world examples to practice the concepts you learn each week.

Hit a snag on the site? Have a burning question? We’ve got you covered.

Our dedicated Student Success team is available to assist you—and push you—to help you pass with flying colors.



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“...a way to get college credit when life circumstances make it difficult for students.”

TechCrunch

Innovation by Design Winner
2020

“...accessible college classes at a fraction of the cost.”

Gizmodo

 

Transferable credits from a top 50 school

You'll earn college credits from the University of Pittsburgh upon course completion.

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Meet your instructors

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Michael Lee

Illinois Institute of Technology

As an associate teaching professor at Illinois Tech for over two decades, Professor Michael Lee has inspired an entire generation of computer science students. He has taught courses ranging from algorithms to mobile application development and continues to develop new classes that bring the latest technology into the classroom.

During his time at Illinois Tech, Professor Lee has been honored with numerous undergraduate teaching awards. His students have praised his knowledge, enthusiasm, and incredible preparation, as well as his passion for making undergraduates feel confident and competent in their pursuit of a degree in computer science.

Professor Lee grew up in Bangkok, Thailand, and moved to the US to study computer science at Illinois Tech, the college he calls home. He is passionate about attracting more students of diverse backgrounds into the field of computer science and fostering a kinder, more inclusive future coded by the CS students of today.

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Xanda Schofield, Ph.D.

Harvey Mudd College

As an assistant professor of computer science at Harvey Mudd College, Xanda Schofield blends strong technical knowledge with a deep understanding and appreciation of the humanities. She specializes in computational text analysis at the intersection of machine learning and social science, with wide-ranging applications like improvisational music software and automated hate-speech detection on social media.

Dr. Schofield earned her BS in Math and Computer Science from Harvey Mudd College and her PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University. Her dissertation focused on improving latent variable models for social science researchers to use in their analysis of real-world datasets—research that she continues to build on today.

Her research group explores ways to make text mining tools easier for social scientists to use, such as through user interface design and natural language processing. In addition to lowering barriers for non-technical experts, Dr. Schofield is passionate about improving representation and inclusive practices in computer science.

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Richard Tillies

Durham Technical Community College

Richard Tillies brings 20 years of experience teaching information technology and mathematics. Affectionately known as “Professor T,” he currently teaches at Durham Technical Community College and the Nashville Software School. Within the tech industry, he held positions as a teaching engineer, database specialist, and software engineer. He earned both his BS in Computer Science and his MS in Education and Information Technology from Radford University.

As a certified Microsoft Innovative Educator, Tillies is passionate about pushing education forward and inspiring students with creative thinking. His engaging teaching style and commitment to education have earned him a number of awards, including the Trailblazer Award from Cengage Learning and the Excellence in Adjunct Teaching Award from Durham Technical Community College.

Outside of the tech world, "Professor T" is a certified kickboxing trainer and a former owner-operator of kickboxing fitness studios in North Carolina. He can also perform a backflip and solve a Rubik's Cube (although not at the same time).

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Erin Rachael Hoffman

Udacity

Erin Hoffman is a data scientist with a background in computer science and design research. 

Before joining Udacity as a curriculum manager, she developed data science curriculum at the Flatiron School, taught computer science workshops to K-12 students, and researched social computational systems as a PhD student at the University of Washington. Hoffman is also a contributing writer on the Analytics Vidhya blog for analytics and data science professionals. 

She earned her BS in Computer Science from Michigan State University, where she placed in the top 3 of an MIT hackathon. Hoffman’s work has been published in a leading academic journal on human-computer interaction and in open-source tools like scikit-learn, a popular machine learning library.

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Compare courses

  TRADITIONAL COURSE
Outlier Computer Science I
Credits Usually 3-4 credits from your school 3 transferable credits
Format In-person or Zoom Interactive and 100% online (Zoom-free)
Lectures Specific time and place On-demand, anywhere
Exams Specific hour Flexible window
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Watch Trailer

What you’ll learn

This course covers all the basic principles and latest Computer Science I topics you’ll need for college credit (and then some—see the syllabus for a complete list).

Basics

  • Syntax and semantics
  • “Hello, World!”
  • Primitive types and reference types
  • Assignment and numerical operators
  • Order of precedence
  • Stored program computers

Recursion

  • The Fibonacci sequence
  • Recursion and sorting
  • Selection, insertion, quick, and merge sort

Programming language commands

  • Conditionals
  • Loops
  • Methods
  • Arrays
  • Strings
  • ArrayLists

Error handling and exceptions

  • Defensive programming
  • Enumerated types
  • Catching, throwing, creating exceptions
  • Checked exceptions

Object-oriented programming

  • Defining and creating classes and objects
  • Constructor method
  • Main method
  • Accessor and mutator methods
  • Data visibility
  • Libraries

Classes and inheritance

  • Overriding methods
  • Polymorphism
  • Object class
  • Designing class hierarchies

Frequently asked questions

  • How do I take an Outlier Course?
    Outlier by Savvas courses are offered through US highschools

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