Getting to know computer science freshmen

This paper reports an ongoing study on CS freshmen at two universities in Finland. The goal of this report is to describe what kind of students decide to study computer science; what are students' programming background, expectations and perceptions regarding their studies and future work life. We collected data from 190 students from two universities at the beginning of the first study year. The results draw a picture of students' who have mainly positive and trusting perceptions of the IT field and who have high expectations of their success at their studies. We will discuss the results, especially the students' heterogeneous programming background and some gender differences, in more detail and consider how we could and should take those into consideration in our curriculum and teaching.