In the spring of 1969, a short computer course comprising three hours of lectures and two hours of working with a computer was offered at Hofstra University to 101 natural science students. A questionnaire, which was designed to assess the impact of the 5-hour course, was administered to the students before and after they took the course. This paper presents evidence on the extent to which the students' attitudes toward and appraisal of the computer changed after they had taken the course. Post-course student responses to five questions in the questionnaire revealed that 34 to 52% of the students felt they had learned a great deal; 50% indicated that too little time, and the other half felt that too much time, was spent on various parts of the course; the average student spent 2.7 hours listening to lectures and 2.4 hours studying or working at the computer center; the computer course, when compared to the regular course, approximately matched the regular course in terms of amount learned and ease of understanding, but was considered to be a little more interesting; and 63 of the students made suggestions for improving the course. These and other data seem to confirm the value of the short computer course, especially since it resulted in more favorable student views of the computer and of its general usefulness. The paper discusses some of the course's limitations and suggests improvements for future presentations. The questionnaire and six tables are appended. (WM)