Perceptions Of Computer Science Research Articles

Engaging Primary and Secondary School Students in Computer Science Through Computational Thinking Training

Although Computer Science has grown to become one of the most highly demanded professional careers, every year, only a small percentage of students choose a degree directly related to Computer Science. Perhaps the problem lies in the lack of information that society has about Computer Science itself, and particularly about the work computer scientists do. No one doubts the role of Mathematics or Languages as core subjects in every primary and secondary education syllabus; however, Computer Science plays a negligible role in most current syllabuses. Only in a few countries have governments paid special attention to content related to Computer Science and to learning to analyze and solve problems the way computer scientists do (Computational Thinking). In this article, we present <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Piens@ Computacion@ULLmente</i> , a project that provides a methodology to promote Computer Science through Computational Thinking activities among primary and secondary education students. The results obtained from an exhaustive statistical analysis of the data we collected demonstrate that the perception of Computer Science that pre-university students have can be improved through specific training. Moreover, we can also confirm that the performance of pre-university students involving Computational Thinking skills is independent of gender, particularly at the primary education level.

Examining the What, Why, and How of Multilingual Student Identity Development in Computer Science

Developing student interest is critical to supporting student learning in computer science. Research indicates that student interest is a key predictor of persistence and achievement. While there is a growing body of work on developing computing identities for diverse students, little research focuses on early exposure to develop multilingual students’ interest in computing. These students represent one of the fastest growing populations in the US, yet they are dramatically underrepresented in computer science education. This study examines identity development of upper elementary multilingual students as they engage in a year-long computational thinking curriculum, and follows their engagement across multiple settings (i.e., school, club, home, community). Findings from pre- and post-surveys of identity showed significant differences favoring students’ experiences with computer science, their perceptions of computer science, their perceptions of themselves as computer scientists, and their family support for computer science. Findings from follow-up interviews and prior research suggest that tailored instruction provides opportunities for connections to out-of-school learning environments with friends and family that may shift students’ perceptions of their abilities to pursue computer science and persist when encountering challenges.

Early Childhood Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of Computer Science, Gender Stereotypes, and Coding in Early Childhood Education.

The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate early childhood preservice teachers’ perceptions of computer science and gender stereotypes in computer science, and perceptions of coding in early childhood education. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from early childhood preservice teachers enrolled in a teaching methods course at a large southeastern university in the U.S. Findings showed that participants had misconceptions about what CS is and what computer scientists do. They were also neutral about coding and its integration in early childhood education. Both qualitative and quantitative data supported that the participants did not hold gender stereotypes in CS.

We game on skyscrapers: the effects of an equity-informed game design workshop on students’ computational thinking skills and perceptions of computer science

We game on skyscrapers: the effects of an equity-informed game design workshop on students’ computational thinking skills and perceptions of computer science

Pre-service Teacher Perceptions in Integrating Maker-Centered Learning in their Mathematics and Education Initial Teacher Education Programme

Aquest article descriu un programa innovador "C24M2: codificació creativa per a creadors de matemàtiques", en un programa de formació simultània de professors de pregrau. Utilitzant Makerspace en un entorn universitari, el programa va fomentar una cultura de creativitat i innovació mitjançant la combinació de matemàtiques i les assignatures STEM més àmpliament reconegudes. En abordar el desafiament de preparar els professors de manera eficaç per ensenyar àrees STEM clau, com ara el pensament computacional, d’una manera atractiva i eficaç, aquest article descriu un disseny i una estructura del fabricant, integrant la física amb la codificació per ordinador, per abordar el desafiament de preparar els estudiants professors. de matemàtiques. L’objectiu del document és validar i explorar les percepcions de la informàtica dels professors de serveis previs i demostra el potencial de l’aprenentatge centrat en els creadors com a context potent per promoure i millorar l’educació STEM, tant entre els alumnes com en els professors de serveis previs. Aquest article examina si el disseny del C24M2 afavoreix una actitud positiva cap a la informàtica per a aquest conjunt de professors de pre-servei. La investigació realitzada aborda les qüestions més destacades de sosteniment i integració de l’aprenentatge centrat en els creadors de manera més àmplia i sistemàtica dins de l’educació, en particular la necessitat de donar suport al desenvolupament professional del professorat en l’aprenentatge centrat en els creadors per mediar l’aprenentatge sostenible d’alt impacte a les escoles i altres entorns educatius.

Connecting with Computer Science: Electronic Textile Portfolios as Ideational Identity Resources for High School Students

The development of student identities—their interests in computer science, perceptions of the discipline, and sense of belonging in the field—is critical for broadening participation of underrepresented groups in computing. This paper reports on the design of portfolios in which two classes of high school students reflected on the process of making electronic textile projects. We examine how students expressed self-authorship in relation to computer science and how the use of reflective portfolios shaped students’ perceptions of computer science. In the discussion we consider how reflective portfolios can serve as ideational resources for computer science identity construction.

Identifying Pathways to Computer Science

Short-term outreach interventions are conducted to raise young students’ awareness of the computer science (CS) field. Typically, these interventions are targeted at K–12 students, attempting to encourage them to study CS in higher education. This study is based on a series of extra-curricular outreach events that introduced students to the discipline of computing, nurturing creative computational thinking through problem solving and game programming. To assess the long-term impact of this campaign, the participants were contacted and interviewed two to five years after they had attended an outreach event. We studied how participating in the outreach program affected the students’ perceptions of CS as a field and, more importantly, how it affected their educational choices. We found that the outreach program generally had a positive effect on the students’ educational choices. The most prominent finding was that students who already possessed a “maintained situational interest” in CS found that the event strengthened their confidence in studying CS. However, many students were not affected by attending the program, but their perceptions of CS did change. Our results emphasize the need to provide continuing possibilities for interested students to experiment with computing-related activities and hence maintain their emerging individual interests.

The Case for Improving U.S. Computer Science Education

Since computer science became an academic discipline in the late 1960s, the level of interest in the field and the number of students taking courses has grown in fits and starts. Currently in an upswing, computer science education in the United States looks poised for steady growth. However, there is the possibility that interest in the field could again wane like it did in 2003 following the burst of the tech bubble. To maintain the field’s current momentum, the perception of computer science needs to shift from its being considered a fringe, elective offering or a skills-based course designed to teach basic computer literacy or coding alone. Instead, it is time for computer science to be seen as a core science on par with more traditional high school offerings such as biology, chemistry and physics, which have been the focus since the 1890s. Furthermore, universities should capitalize on the growing interest in computer science and expand their offerings to accommodate the growing demand for courses in the field.

Girls and computer science: experiences, perceptions, and career aspirations

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine ways to promote computer science (CS) among girls by exploring young women’s experiences and perceptions of CS as well as investigating factors affecting their career aspirations. American girls aged 10–16 participated in focus group interviews as well as pre-, post-, and follow-up surveys while attending a CS camp. The analysis of data revealed that although the participants were generally positive about the CS field, they had very limited knowledge of and experience with CS, leading to little aspiration to become computer scientists. The findings also indicated that girls’ affinity for and confidence in CS were critical factors affecting their motivation for pursuing a CS-related career. The study demonstrated that participation in the CS camp motivated a small number of participants to be interested in majoring in CS, but the activity time was too short to make a significant impact. Based on the findings, we suggest that providing CS programming experiences in K-12 classrooms is important in order to boost girls’ confidence and interest in CS.

Development of a game-design workshop to promote young girls' interest towards computing through identity exploration

Despite recent improvements, women remain underrepresented in Computer Science (CS) in both industry and higher education. Self-perception and identity play an important role in young women's opinions of careers in CS. We believe that by presenting software programming in a way that facilitates identity exploration early on, young girls will be more likely to consider careers in CS later in life. In partnership with an organization that focuses on technology education for middle school girls we developed a game design workshop in an effort to change young girls' perception of CS by increasing their knowledge of programming and empowering them to develop their own identities as computer scientists. This paper presents the results of a case study with 21 participants that was carried out to evaluate the workshop's short-term influence on young girls' attitudes towards CS. The study employed a mixed methods design, including a pre and post application of a validated survey instrument, focus-group interviews, and content analysis of games developed by the students. The pre and post surveys focused on how students' attitudes towards computing may have been influenced by their participation in the workshop; the focus-group interviews aimed to gain further insight into their workshop experience; and the content analysis of games focused on the learning outcomes of our workshop. The findings suggest that the workshop resulted in improvements in both young girls' attitudes towards CS as well as in their self-reported confidence and competence with computers. These results highlight the importance of providing positive identity exploration opportunities in shaping female students' attitudes towards CS.

Changing perceptions of computer science and computational thinking among high school teachers

Interest in specific college majors begins in high school. The influence of high school math and science teachers is important, both for high school preparation of future computer science undergrad...

Computer science student transformations

We examine the transformations experienced by students during their study of computing. These transformations led to changes in the students' perceptions of computer science, in their sense of identity as computer scientists, their behavior and their confidence. The changes are caused by learning or using particular concepts, and often associated with writing computer programs, learning new programming languages, or interacting with peers.

Using multilevel systems theory to integrate dynamic person-in-context systems

Despite recent improvements, women remain underrepresented in Computer Science (CS) in both industry and higher education. Self-perception and identity play an important role in young women's opinions of careers in CS. We believe that by presenting software programming in a way that facilitates identity exploration early on, young girls will be more likely to consider careers in CS later in life. In partnership with an organization that focuses on technology education for middle school girls we developed a game design workshop in an effort to change young girls' perception of CS by increasing their knowledge of programming and empowering them to develop their own identities as computer scientists. This paper presents the results of a case study with 21 participants that was carried out to evaluate the workshop's short-term influence on young girls' attitudes towards CS. The study employed a mixed methods design, including a pre and post application of a validated survey instrument, focus-group interviews, and content analysis of games developed by the students. The pre and post surveys focused on how students' attitudes towards computing may have been influenced by their participation in the workshop; the focus-group interviews aimed to gain further insight into their workshop experience; and the content analysis of games focused on the learning outcomes of our workshop. The findings suggest that the workshop resulted in improvements in both young girls' attitudes towards CS as well as in their self-reported confidence and competence with computers. These results highlight the importance of providing positive identity exploration opportunities in shaping female students' attitudes towards CS.

Are Computer Science and Information Technology still masculine fields? High school students’ perceptions and career choices

This study investigated Greek high school students’ intentions and motivation towards and against pursuing academic studies in Computer Science (CS), the influence of the family and the scholastic environment on students’ career choices, students’ perceptions of CS and the Information Technology (IT) profession as well as students’ attendance at CS courses at school, computer use in the home and self-efficacy beliefs regarding computers. Gender differences were examined with a view to identifying factors that may affect boys’ and girls’ career choices. The participants were 358 students of both sexes who completed an anonymous questionnaire. The data analysis showed that girls are less likely than boys to pursue a CS degree, and when they do so, it is mainly because of extrinsic reasons rather than personal interest in CS. Lack of opportunities for early familiarization with computing in the home and the scholastic environment is the factor that mainly differentiates boys’ and girls’ motivation against studying CS, having a greater impact on girls. Misconceptions of CS were detected in students of both genders. Girls view CS as a self-referencing, machine- and programming-oriented discipline to a greater extent than boys do, and hold less positive views of the IT profession. Boys view CS as more human- and application-oriented than girls do. They also have greater computer self-efficacy and more sex-stereotypical views of CS and IT as male domains. Appropriate actions to increase girls’ interest and participation in CS studies are proposed according to the findings.

Embracing the social relevance

We propose the integration of service-learning into the early undergraduate computer science curriculum by way of a course on computing, ethics and society. We believe that such a course will fill a common gap in computer science and can be used to draw smart, motivated students to the discipline by embracing its social relevance. Additionally, we outline a particular service-learning project that can be undertaken by students in the course--initiating a community computer recycling program. We describe the successful implementation of such a recycling program and describe some logistical issues that may arise in organizing such a program in a service-learning course. We believe that a student-implemented community outreach project such as this can alter the public's perception of computer science and will assist in reversing the trend of declining undergraduate enrollment.

Perceptions of Computer Science at a South African university

First year students at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, were surveyed about their perceptions of Computer Science before and towards the end of their first year courses. The aim of this research was to investigate how the students’ attitudes changed during these courses and to assess the impact of the innovative breadth-first curriculum that has been developed in the School of Computer Science which emphasises the fundamentals of the discipline and the mathematical nature of Computer Science. The results show that most perceptions did not change much or that there were changes in both directions. More students, and particularly female students, were positive about their own understanding of the nature of Computer Science after the course than before. However, when asking specifically about jobs and course content, there was not a substantially deeper understanding at the end of the course of what content they would expect to encounter in a Computer Science course or working as a Computer Scientist. Fewer students, particularly male students, thought that Computer Science and mathematics were closely related after the course than before and this was an unexpected result, which may be the result of discrete mathematics topics being taught in courses separate from those in which continuous mathematics topics are taught. Students became less positive about working with computers after the course, a result which supports prior research, but is an issue for concern as computers will play some role in their future careers. The students found the courses challenging and different from their expectations with few students finding the courses unenjoyable.