Essential Aspects of Gender-inclusive Computer Science Education

Contribution: This article presents a synthesis of the findings and implications from the IC2Think program of research in undergraduate computer science (CS) courses examining student motivation and self-regulated learning (SRL). These studies illuminate both the difficulty and potential for motivating CS students, as well as the uniqueness of CS as a context for studying undergraduate motivation. Background: Computing disciplines are increasingly important in preparing the future workforce. It is imperative that CS educators understand how to motivate students and enhance student outcomes. Synthesizing findings across multiple studies allows for the emergence of new insights into student motivation and SRL. Research Questions: Which aspects of students' motivation and SRL are predictive of achievement and retention in CS and how can findings inform CS education? Methodology: The primary methodology is a comprehensive review of seven years of research on undergraduate CS education. Studies use a variety of analysis techniques, examine a range of constructs, and include multiple introductory and advanced CS courses. Studies of relationships between variables and change over time were conducted. Findings: The present synthesis of studies on motivation and SRL highlights the complex, counter-intuitive, and positive aspects of student motivation in CS.

This paper explores the potential of virtual education options to fulfill policies designed to broaden participation in computer science (CS) education. Virtual education platforms inherently offer access to a wider range of students than traditional brick-and-mortar schools. Access does not preclude the various socio-economic challenges to engaging these platforms, but this format could be used to mitigate barriers to reaching groups of students that have historically been marginalized in CS courses. In 2019, Georgia passed legislation that requires all middle and high schools to offer CS courses by 2025. The legislation also allowed for virtual courses to satisfy the requirement. While the legislation is intent on broadening participation in CS education, it specifically incorporates a virtual option, making it novel among similar legislative actions across the country. In this context, we examine whether virtual CS courses increase access for marginalized student populations. As such, we explore (1) to what extent do the disparities in CS education found in brick-and-mortar classrooms also appear in virtual settings and (2) to what extent is there an association between modality and rurality on CS course enrollment. Using district enrollment data from 2012 to 2019 for CS courses in Georgia, we calculated the percentage of students in marginalized groups that enrolled in physical courses across the state compared to the percentage enrolled in statewide virtual courses to illuminate existing disparities in enrollment. We conducted this analysis at the district level to highlight variability in representative disparity and the underlying structural differences that might contribute to these disparities. Our analysis provides insight that incorporates the different levels of representative disparity districts have overall. As an early adopter of virtual CS education, the Georgia model provides valuable information for states interested in policies to broaden participation in CS courses.

The need for computer science (CS) education, especially computer network education, is increasing. However, the challenges of teaching students with diverse backgrounds and engaging them in hands-on activities to apply theories into practices exist in CS education. The study addressed the challenges by using project-based learning (PBL) and flipped teaching approaches to cover both theoretical and hands-on learning aspects in CS education. This study aims to demonstrate the design and development journey of a CS course and examine whether using PBL, hands-on activities, and flipped teaching approaches improves students’ learning. The design-based research study was conducted in an undergraduate CS course from 2014 to 2020 at a midwestern university. The design and development trajectory in the six years were described. The descriptive statistics were used to analyze the trends of the course evaluation results, and ANOVA were conducted to examine whether the evaluation differs from each semester. The results indicated that using PBL, hands-on activities, and flipped teaching increased students’ learning motivation and their perceptions of their learning. Combining PBL and flipped teaching appropriately can enhance students’ learning motivation and perceived learning in CS education, but further research is needed to examine how each individual intervention influence students’ learning motivation and learning outcomes.

Research Problem. Computer science (CS) education researchers conducting studies that target high school students have likely seen their studies impacted by COVID-19. Interpreting research findings impacted by COVID-19 presents unique challenges that will require a deeper understanding as to how the pandemic has affected underserved and underrepresented students studying or unable to study computing. Research Question. Our research question for this study was: In what ways has the high school computer science educational ecosystem for students been impacted by COVID-19, particularly when comparing schools based on relative socioeconomic status of a majority of students? Methodology. We used an exploratory sequential mixed methods study to understand the types of impacts high school CS educators have seen in their practice over the past year using the CAPE theoretical dissaggregation framework to measure schools’ Capacity to offer CS, student Access to CS education, student Participation in CS, and Experiences of students taking CS. Data Collection Procedure. We developed an instrument to collect qualitative data from open-ended questions, then collected data from CS high school educators ( n = 21) and coded them across CAPE. We used the codes to create a quantitative instrument. We collected data from a wider set of CS high school educators ( n = 185), analyzed the data, and considered how these findings shape research conducted over the last year. Findings. Overall, practitioner perspectives revealed that capacity for CS Funding, Policy & Curriculum in both types of schools grew during the pandemic, while the capacity to offer physical and human resources decreased. While access to extracurricular activities decreased, there was still a significant increase in the number of CS courses offered. Fewer girls took CS courses and attendance decreased. Student learning and engagement in CS courses were significantly impacted, while other noncognitive factors like interest in CS and relevance of technology saw increases. Practitioner perspectives also indicated that schools serving students from lower-income families had (1) a greater decrease in the number of students who received information about CS/CTE pathways; (2) a greater decrease in the number of girls enrolled in CS classes; (3) a greater decrease in the number of students receiving college credit for dual-credit CS courses; (4) a greater decrease in student attendance; and (5) a greater decrease in the number of students interested in taking additional CS courses. On the flip-side, schools serving students from higher income families had significantly higher increases in the number of students interested in taking additional CS courses.

Computer Science (CS) education has caught a wave -- of media attention, public support, public/private commitments, broad-based participation by educators, and a surge in student enrollments at the undergraduate level. It is a startling change over just the last 5 years. Over that 5 years, much has been accomplished at the high school level. The Exploring Computer Science and Advanced Placement® CS Principles courses were created to engage and inspire a diverse mix of students. Hundreds of teachers and university faculty have collaborated to develop course materials, assessments, MOOCS, and models of teacher professional development. Over 2,000 high schools now offer new CS courses, but that leaves out more than 34,000.Even then, students will need more than a single course, they will need a K-16 CS pathway. At the K-8 level, CS does not have the decades of research on the teaching and learning that is available to many other, more established disciplines. A stronger evidence base is needed as the basis for pedagogy, curricula, standards, and teacher preparation. The CS community must put greater emphasis on research in CS education and broadening participation, and it must build stronger collaborations with researchers in related disciplines.Over the last 5 years, college-level CS departments have been inundated with students. This growth is fueled by a strong job market for CS majors and an increasing awareness that computation is fundamental to many other industry sectors and academic disciplines. How will departments cope with increasing numbers without sacrificing access or quality? How will they respond to increasing diversity of ethnicity and gender, but also of interests, and career goals of their students? For those interested in CS education, it's an exciting time, but it comes with some urgency. This talk will discuss how to catch the current wave, using it to full advantage.

Quality computer science (CS) teachers are critical for secondary computing education. In addition to increasing the number of high school (HS) CS teachers, there is a great need for supporting those teachers to grow and stay as committed, effective teachers. Recent literature on teacher education suggests that teachers' sense of commitment and (other aspects of) teaching profession is tightly linked with their teacher identity. However, the current educational system in the U.S. does not provide typical contexts for teachers to build a sense of identity as CS teachers. This study is intended to gain an initial understanding of CS teachers' perceptions about their own professional identity and potential factors that might contribute to these perceptions. Our findings indicate that current HS teachers teaching CS courses do not necessarily identify themselves as CS teachers. They have different perceptions related to CS teaching. Four kinds of factors can contribute to these perceptions: teachers' educational background and certification, CS curriculum and department hierarchy, availability of CS teacher community, and teachers' perceptions about the field of CS.

NYC's Computer Science for All (CS4All) is a 10-year, districtwide initiative aimed at providing high-quality computer science (CS) education to all NYC public school students. It aspires to greatly increase the number of students, teachers, and schools exposed to CS in NYC, and to offer meaningful learning experiences that build on prior exposure and skills at every grade level. These plans include providing high-quality professional development (PD) to some 5,000 teachers, designed to help them learn new programs and pedagogies in CS education, as well as strategies for integrating CS into existing courses. This paper presents findings from an assessment of CS in NYC, conducted in the second year of the CS4All initiative. Using a telephone survey of a representative sample of schools, we describe the current state of CS programming and training in the City. Overall, we found high participation in CS teacher training opportunities (both through and independent of the initiative) and widespread offering of CS courses Specifically, we estimate just over half of schools districtwide (56%) participated in some type of CS training in the 2015-16 school year, and about two thirds of schools (64%) offered students some kind of CS coursework in the 2016-17 school year (through either stand-alone CS courses or the integration of CS into other subjects). The type of programming and training varied by school level (elementary, middle and high). We also explored the extent to which programming and training are reaching schools and students who are historically underrepresented in CS--including women and girls, students of color, low-income students and students with disabilities. We found that schools offering CS courses and activities served fewer Black and Latino students and more White and Asian Students, compared with schools not offering CS. This work is unique, as it is the only districtwide assessment of CS education conducted anywhere in the country to date, thus adding to an under-researched but important and growing field of study

Motivation: Recent efforts to expand K-12 computer science education highlight the great need for well-prepared computer science (CS) teachers. Teacher identity theory offers a particular conceptual lens for us to understand computer science teacher preparation and professional development. The emerging literature suggests that teacher identity is central to sustaining motivation, efficacy, job satisfaction, and commitment, and these attributes are crucial in determining teacher retention. While the benefits associated with a strong sense of teacher identity are great, teachers face unique challenges and tensions in developing their professional identity for teaching computer science. Objectives: This exploratory study attempts to operationalize computer science teacher identity through discussing the potential domains, proposing and testing a quantitative instrument for assessing computer science teachers’ professional identity. Method: We first discussed the potential domains of computer science teacher identity based on recent teacher identity literature and considerations on some unique challenges for computer science teachers. Then we proposed the computer science teacher identity scale, which was piloted through a national K-12 computer science teacher survey with 3,540 completed responses. The survey results were analyzed with a series of factor analyses to test the internal structure of the computer science teacher identity scale. Results: Our analyses reveal a four-factor solution for the computer science teacher identity scale, which is composed of CS teaching commitment, CS pedagogical confidence, confidence to engage students, and sense of community/belonging. There were significant differences among the teachers with different computer science teaching experiences. In general, teachers with more computer science teaching experience had higher computer science teacher identity scores on all four factors. Discussion: The four-factor model along with a large national dataset invites a deeper analysis of the data and can provide important benchmarks. Such an instrument can be used to explore developmental patterns in computer science teacher identity, and function as a pedagogical tool to provoke discussion and reflection among teachers about their professional development. This study may also contribute to understanding computer science teachers’ professional development needs and inform efforts to prepare, develop, and retain computer science teachers.

Access to computer science education (CSEd) has greatly expanded in recent years. Starting with the Computer Science for All Initiative, launched in 2016 under President Obama, CSEd has expanded across the U.S. with over half of high schools offering at least one computer science course. Although there has been growth in computer science course offerings, disparities exist when it comes to ‘who’ enrolls in CSEd courses, and ‘where’ those courses are being offered. These disparities highlight that while funding and support for CSEd has increased, little is known about the capacity of states to operationalize (and implement) policies to achieve equitable CSEd. Furthermore, how recent changes at the federal and state level(s) are directly impacting minoritized populations' access, participation, and engagement in CSEd. This commentary focuses on the state‐level capacity to implement equity‐focused CSEd policies that can lead to improvements in student opportunities and outcomes. We argue that state CSEd leaders engage at the intersection of four areas: (1) growing state investment in CSEd, (2) increasingly polarizing political environments, (3) securing human and fiscal resources to implement CSEd policy with fidelity, and (4) supporting Culturally Responsive Computing that sustains equitable teaching and learning practices in schools and classrooms. This commentary also serves as a Call to Action for STEM education researchers to listen closely and carefully to the communities served by CSEd research, including students, families, and educators.

The purpose of this study is to identify secondary computer science (CS) teachers’ pedagogical needs in the United States. Participants were selected from secondary teachers who were teaching CS courses or content in a school setting (public, private, or charter) or an after-school program during the time of data collection. This is a qualitative study using CS teachers’ discussions in Computer Science Teachers Association’s (CSTA) email listserv, responses to open-ended questions in a questionnaire, and discussions in follow-up interviews. Content analysis, thematic analysis and constant comparative method of qualitative data analysis were used to analyze the data. The most common pedagogical need expressed was learning student-centered strategies for teaching CS and guiding students’ understanding with the use of scaffolding and team-management strategies in CS classes. Furthermore, addressing students’ beliefs in CS and their preconceptions in math and reading were important factors influencing teaching CS effectively in secondary schools.

Teaching formal methods in software construction has often been a concern of several computer science educators. In our opinion, the origin of most of the difficulties in learning formal methods in computer science and software engineering does not lie in computer science courses but in the mathematical background of the students. Moreover, there are numerous obstacles to learning basic concepts noted by both computer science and mathematics educators. To change this situation it is necessary to integrate the work of mathematics and computer science educators. That is, the main focus should be the creation of new educational approachs nourished by two components: a theoretical one (formally introducing discrete mathematics concepts) and an experimental one (implementing those concepts in a suitable programming language). In this paper, using examples from a discrete mathematics course for high school teachers, we describe the main characteristics of our approach.

Computer Science (CS) educators are constantly reinventing introductory and advanced courses contextualized with new technology to better engage, retain students and increase their learning and motivation. Mobile and wearable computing are the most recent examples. However, while it is important to attract students into CS, it is equally vital to sustain student motivation by using pedagogical approaches contextualized to how students learn throughout the curriculum without losing fundamental, core concepts. Many educators have developed one-off courses employing new technology or a project-driven approach to engage students and transfer ready industry skills. Yet, too few have woven a combination of pedagogical approaches sensitive to how students learn with in-demand technology and skills contiguously throughout the upper-level curriculum and tied it to opportunities outside of the classroom. To ensure that CS educators are not simply adopting the newest technological fad at the expense of students learning and fundamental, core CS concepts, the CS education community must understand how mobile computing technology can be successfully leveraged to change education through measured, contextualized pedagogical approaches. To start facilitating this dialog, this Birds of a Feather session will provide a platform for the discussion of how mobile computing has been successfully (and unsuccessfully) incorporated into CS courses; the mobile platforms and tools used; and, the pedagogical utility of using mobile computing as a learning intervention. This project is partially supported by NSF DUE#1140781.

Bits & Bytes CS-CAVE: DISTRICTS’ ROLES IN BROADENING CS ACCESS Susan Yonezawa, Nan Renner, Monica Sweet, Beth Simon and Diane Baxter This research investigates the spread and sustainability of university efforts to increase the number and types of computer science (CS) courses available in K-12. Two university/K-12 collaborative projects in the San Diego region provide insights into pathways for sustainability. Nearly 75 teachers were trained to teach CS Principles through professional development by university CS faculty and staff. Despite myriad challenges, one-third of the teachers implemented the course. Subsequent research explores three school districts as active players rather than passive recipients (or worse, resistors) of NSF-funded university-led efforts, revealing political and cultural challenges to implementation and sustainability of CS education reform. Computing pervades contemporary life. The US economy demands workers with computational competence. Yet, few K-12 students, particularly those from low-income and minority back- grounds, have access to formal learning opportunities in computer science (CS) [2]. To meet economic demands and give students access to opportunities, the US education system must expand CS offerings in K-12 education. Equally critical, this expansion must be equitable and accessible to diverse student populations, not limited just to the affluent and tech-endowed schools. Educational leaders call for expanding access to K-12 comput- ing education, with deliberate attention to broadening participation by students traditionally underrepresented in computer science, including female, African American, Latino, Native American, and students with disabilities/learning differences. Researchers have documented disparities in students’ K-12 access to computer science learning opportunities, but higher education’s investment to actively assist K-12 is more recent [1]. Higher education part- nerships with K-12 have increased the number and types of CS courses available for students. Our research expands the scope to investigate sustainability and spread of CS reforms. Two sequential CS education projects involving collaboration between California higher education (UC San Diego and San 80 acm Inroads 2015 December • Vol. 6 • No. 4 Working with district partners, ComPASS and CS-CaVE reveal that the technical as- pects of CS curriculum and teacher training present only one set of challenges. Diego State University) and K-12 education in the San Diego region highlight this recent progression from implementation to sustainability research in K-12 CS education, providing insight into pathways for sustainability. Two efforts to broaden participation in CS: From ComPASS to CS-CaVE In 2011, the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded teams at University of California San Diego (UCSD) and San Diego State University (SDSU) to conduct research on adapting a college- level course, CS Principles (CSP), for high schools in San Diego County, California. This CE21 project, “Computing Principles for All Students’ Success” (ComPASS), aimed to create a broader pool of CSP teachers, expand CSP class offerings, increase the number of schools offering CSP, and broaden teacher and student partici- pation. ComPASS project objectives were to: ■ develop and evaluate content and pedagogy training and support resources for teachers (with or without computing backgrounds) to teach CSP; ■ build a regional computing education community to provide sustainable peer support for new CSP teachers. ComPASS has trained approximately 75 teachers to teach CSP, through intensive CS workshops and professional development led by UCSD and SDSU Computer Science faculty and instructors from the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). However,

Background & Context Continuously developing teachers’ knowledge, practice, and professional identity is one of the key standards for effective computer science (CS) teachers. Objective This study aims to understand the landscape of CS teachers in the United States, the professional identity they hold, and how their background and teaching context are associated with their CS teacher identity. Method Using data of 3540 teachers, we performed a two-step cluster analysis to reveal homogeneous subgroups of CS teachers. The relationship between teachers’ backgrounds and their CS teacher identity was also assessed. Findings This study identified four profiles of CS teachers based on their professional identity. . CS teacher identity is strongly associated with teachers’ Computer Science Teachers Association membership, teaching responsibility, teaching experience, and their exposure to CS coursework. Implications More professional support is needed for CS teachers, especially for early-career CS teachers, elementary school teachers, and teachers with multiple responsibilities and little CS background.

This paper explores the attitudes of Computer Science (CS) teachers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) who are confronted by the Saudi Teaching Competencies Standards (STCS). The STCS is a response to a substantial need to develop both subject-specific pedagogical ability as well as teachers subject area knowledge. The Ministry of Education in the KSA is encouraging teachers to improve their practices to achieve the new quality requirements for education. This paper presents the results of an investigation of CS teachers’ views on educational belief changes in the KSA schools. The paper addresses how and why CS teachers adopt new educational beliefs in their teaching. The paper presents the results of the investigation of the CS teachers views on educational belief changes in the KSA schools and the STCS policy document guidelines. Research in the area of changing educational epistemology in teaching CS identifies six factors that influence teachers, these are personal pedagogical beliefs, peer learning, curriculum, self-directed learning, student feedback and the STCS. A mixed method study approach was adopted in this work. Content analysis has been applied to the interview transcript and thematic coding analysis to the government policy document (STCS). The results provide a valuable case study in the KSA and emphasize the weak relationship between educational epistemology change and the STCS norms. The findings show that the STCS should provide stronger guidance for CS teachers to keep changing beliefs in teaching CS. The STCS should offer supporting official resources to CS teachers to help them in changing their beliefs in regard to teaching CS.