CISC 101 is officially titled "Elements of Computing Science" in the Faculty of Arts and Science calendar and is described as follows:

Introduction to algorithms: their definition, design, coding, and execution on computers. Intended for students who have no programming experience. All or most assignment work will be completed during lab time.

This course will examine the fundamentals of computing with overviews of topics such as computer architecture, operating systems and Boolean logic. Focus will be on designing algorithms to accomplish a given task and writing them in the Python programming language using best practices and good style.

CISC 101 lectures take place in Room 1103 of the Biosciences Complex on Tuesdays from 6:30PM-9:30PM. There will be a 10-minute break roughly halfway through the lecture.

Each student is also enrolled in one of three lab and tutorial sections. Both the labs and tutorials are essential for gaining programming experience with the assistance of the TAs. Tests will also take place during tutorials.