The Astronomy Department at the University of Maryland (College Park) offers a one-credit astronomy scientific computing class, ASTR 288P: Introduction to Astronomical Programming, to provide undergraduates with a foundation in computing. This course is a prerequisite to an advanced-level three-credit course on Computational Astrophysics (ASTR 415).

In ASTR 288P, students learn to work with the UNIX terminal, get the basics of coding with Python and some C, and learn what makefiles are and how to install software, among other topics. The course also introduces students to the ASCL, as for the final class project, students (either alone or in pairs) pick a code from the ASCL, give a short presentation on how they installed and used it, and discuss how that code fits in the large scheme of computing in astrophysics. This allows the students to get a feel for the computational work the astro community is doing and is a good match to test the skills they should have learned in the class.