News Consumption Among CS Majors: Habits, Perceptions, and Challenges

Abstract

Improved pedagogy is urgently needed that helps computer science majors better recognize how their products will affect societies where computing is increasingly permeating all aspects of life. A more suitable approach than frequently updating materials to reflect the effect of rapidly changing computing paradigms on continuously evolving societies is to integrate the assessment of current events into the classroom and coursework. Because current events evolve so quickly, often the only source of information is the news media for which trustworthiness and accuracy have become complex issues. To accurately target instructional changes that account for both the benefits and challenges of incorporating news reporting, instructors must first understand how computer science majors consume news. Unfortunately, research addressing the habits and perceptions of computer science students when consuming news reporting is limited. To help fill this gap, we present results from a survey investigating the method, frequency, and perceptions of news consumption among CS majors at a primarily undergraduate university in the United States. We also report if students appreciate the effect of computing on current events and provide analysis from investigating the impact of news stories influenced by computing.