Tell them to start from their domain. Find a simple problem that could be solved using a command-line utility (ex: bioinformatics tools). Pick a scripting lang

Tell them to start from their domain. Find a simple problem that could be solved using a command-line utility (ex: bioinformatics tools). Pick a scripting language (Python, Ruby, Perl - any big one will do since they don't have deep coding knowledge yet). Read an intro book, tutorials and create the command-line tool. If they found the language intuitive to them, great, otherwise try a different language. Then, incorporate storage using a simple in-memory or local database like BerkeleyDB or SQLite - the key is to focus on the SQL rather than db admin. Then, consider how you might create a web application for this tool (sure, it could be a stupid example of a webapp, but again the goal is keeping things simple). Maybe, a mobile app? Hope the pattern is clear here. Tackle each bit as simply as possible to quickly build a wide range of skills and also find out where their interests lie. If something is especially interesting, go deeper.