Repetition Meets Context: Teaching CS1 Through Two Scientific Domains

Introductory computer science (CS1) courses are foundational to students' computing education, yet they often rely on abstract, decontextualized problems and introduce core concepts only once. This can lead to fragile learning, where students struggle to retain knowledge or apply it in new contexts. To address these challenges, we designed a CS1 course that introduces computing twice—first through a biology lens, then through a chemistry lens. This dual-introduction, dual-context structure aims to reinforce foundational computing concepts while highlighting their relevance across scientific domains. Our results indicate that the course structure effectively supported student learning, and end-of-semester survey responses reflected strong student engagement and appreciation for the interdisciplinary approach.