Nerding for Newbies 2014 A Summer School in Computers & Programming

Recruiting students to informatics can be a challenge, particularly when it comes to recruiting female students. The Department of Informatics at the University of Bergen has had severe problems with both recruitment and retention of female students. As part of an effort to raise interest in computers and programming in general, and among women in particular, we organised a two-week summer school where students could learn a range of subject including programming, Linux, electronics, statistics and other basic computer geek skills – in short, Nerding for Newbies. In this paper, we discuss the organisation of the summer school, our teaching methods and our experiences.