Student and faculty attitudes and beliefs about computer science (original) (raw)
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Complexities in Computer Science Teaching Attitudes and Beliefs
Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1
Teacher dispositions have strong empirical and theoretical ties to teacher motivation, professional choices, and classroom practices. The attitudes and beliefs of teachers can mediate students' access to and experience with computer science (CS) instruction. This paper presents a baseline study to illuminate initial characteristics, beliefs, and experiences with CS of an elementary school teaching population in multiple districts across two states. As part of their onboarding to a large CS outreach project, U.S. teachers (N = 791) from partnering elementary schools (N = 28) completed the T-ABC, a survey instrument designed to measure teachers' beliefs about CS education, growth-mindset and self-efficacy. Prior CS professional development experiences were associated with statistically significant differences in the CS Beliefs and Self-Efficacy dimensions of the T-ABC. We present and discuss an additional principal component analysis producing a seven factor model, with psychometric overview of factor extraction and loading. Further we begin to define emergent factors such as teacher determination, teacher fear, and epistemologically confused positivity from this analysis. Identification and measurement of teacher dispositions enables further analysis of how teacher beliefs may support or hinder effective practice in CS instruction, how teacher populations may differ, and how identified dispositions may change with exposure to various CS learning experiences. CCS CONCEPTS • Applied computing → Education; • Social and professional topics → K-12 education.
Examining science and engineering students' attitudes toward computer science
2009 39th IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, 2009
Concerns have been raised with respect to the recent decline in enrollment in undergraduate computer science majors. Women are one subpopulation that is severely underrepresented. To better understand the factors that discourage students, both males and females, from pursuing degrees in computer science, a valid and reliable survey is needed. This type of instrument would support the quantitative tracking of attitudinal changes with respect to the field overtime as well as attitudinal comparisons across various subpopulations. This paper describes a survey which is being developed based on current research in computer science education at the Colorado School of Mines through support of the National Science Foundation. Based on the results of a factor analysis and with respect to the pilot population (Colorado School of Mines undergraduate students), there is evidence to support the assertion that this instrument is accurately measuring the five constructs that it was designed to assess.
Changes in CS students' sttitudes towards CS over time
ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 2005
Few women major in Computer Science (CS), which creates a serious bottleneck of women qualified to enter into the CS workforce. To address this bottleneck, this study examines gender issues in CS education. We assessed whether gender differences in CS students' stereotypes of CS and attitudes towards CS classes and the CS program remain stable from one semester to the next. We found that gender differences in CS students are not temporally stable and conclude that one-time assessments of gender differences may lead to erroneous conclusions. We also found that concerns about future work-family conflicts and gender issues in the CS program (e.g., female CS students feeling that they are not being taken as seriously as male CS students) emerged as important concerns for female CS students. 0 The implications of these findings for increasing the representation of women in CS are discussed.
STUDENT EXPECTATIONS FROM CS AND OTHER STEM COURSES: THEY AREN'T LIKE CS-MAJORS! OR (CS != STEM-CS
Students enter a course with expectations of what will and will not happen. Understanding student's expectations is important for increasing learning and the success and satisfaction of the students. This paper outlines the development and deployment of a survey to assess student expectations at the beginning of a course. Summary results of 816 students in STEM courses are reported, and speci cally the results from 57 students in two Computer Science (CS) courses. Analysis of these results includes several breakdowns and observations. A comparison of 200-level CS, biology and chemistry courses is given for insight into speci c di erences between CS and other STEM students. Results suggest that CS instructors should consider student backgrounds in courses and whether they have non-CS students enrolled. Also, non-CS faculty teaching CS students should consider the unique mind-set of CS students.
ACM Transactions on Computing Education
Instrument development is an important step towards unlocking the analytical power of teacher attitudes and beliefs towards Computer Science (CS). Teacher dispositions have strong empirical and theoretical ties to teacher motivation, professional choices, and classroom practices. To determine consensus desirable attitudes and beliefs we analyzed 17 key documents produced by 12 national and international organizations associated with CS and the CS education reform movement. An analysis of 98 relevant coded segments yielded four dispositional targets: an equity orientation, a teacher growth mindset, and key beliefs regarding (career) outcomes and epistemology of CS. Statements crafted for these targets as well as self-efficacy were reviewed through an expert panel (N = 5) and a pilot study (N = 22) before the T-ABC was administered to elementary teachers in a large grant-funded outreach project (N = 772). Psychometric analysis demonstrates high reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.89) an...
CS Outreach to Inform Secondary School Students' Perceptions of CS: Initial Findings
Proceedings of the 18th WiPSCE Conference on Primary and Secondary Computing Education Research
This study covers a three-year, longitudinal K-12 outreach initiative that promoted computer science in Ireland from 2017-2020. During the first year, 2017-2018, 2900 students participated in a pilot phase. 7320 students participated in the implementation phase throughout the course of the academic years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 in 2018. The program consisted of a free, two-hour camp that was delivered on-site at the school and exposed children to a variety of computing topics, including addressing misconceptions about computing, learning how to code, and investigating computational thinking. Schools self-selected, and the initiative reached several schools in every county in Ireland, as well as schools with a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds and gender diversity. The primary school students' ages ranged from third class (7-8 years old) to sixth year (17-18 years old) at second level. This paper focuses specifically on the research data collected during the implementation phase (N=1202) from the secondary school students (12-18 years old) not enrolled in the formal Leaving Certificate Computer Science subject. Looking at student perceptions of Computer Science and if the outreach positively impacted those perceptions and if it built student interest in pursuing further study in Computer Science. CCS CONCEPTS • Social and professional topics → Computer science education.
Pedagogical beliefs and attitudes of computer science
2013
Pedagogical beliefs and attitudes significantly determine the professional skills and practice of teachers. Many professional development programs for teachers aim to the elaboration of the pedagogical knowledge in order to improve teaching quality. This paper presents the study of pedagogical beliefs of computer science teachers in Greece. The research data reveal that computer science teachers usually hold mixed traditional and constructivist theories which are generally irrelevant to either demographic factors or their pedagogical training. In some cases statistically significant correlations to the educational level or the total teaching service are detected. The results of the study set out suggestions concerning the design of pedagogical training programs.
Perceptions of Teaching in Undergraduate Computer Science Education
2009
The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of computer science faculty members towards undergraduate teaching. The questions addressed in this study are: (1) How important is effective teaching to computer science faculty members at the undergraduate level and how important do they perceive effective teaching to be to their institution? 2) How much teacher training have computer science faculty members received? 3) What do computer science faculty members believe about teaching? 4) What are the current teaching practices of computer science faculty members and what influences those practices? 5) What incentives or rewards are offered to faculty members who try innovative teaching methods or receive additional training? The motivation for investigating these questions is a general dissatisfaction among students with teaching quality and a desire of faculty members to improve the efficacy of recruitment and retention of students in computer science programs. Over three hund...
Faculty Perceptions of Teaching in Undergraduate Computer Science Education
cs.tufts.edu
The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of computer science faculty members towards undergraduate teaching. The questions addressed in this study are: (1) How important is effective teaching to computer science faculty members at the undergraduate level and how important do they perceive effective teaching to be to their institution? 2) How much teacher training have computer science faculty members received? 3) What do computer science faculty members believe about teaching? 4) What are the current teaching practices of computer science faculty members and what influences those practices? 5) What incentives or rewards are offered to faculty members who try innovative teaching methods or receive additional training? The motivation for investigating these questions is a general dissatisfaction among students with teaching quality and a desire of faculty members to improve the efficacy of recruitment and retention of students in computer science programs. Over three hundred faculty members participated in an online survey in the Fall of 2008 that addressed the questions stated above. The results of this study helped the author develop and make recommendations to help computer science departments understand faculty attitudes towards teaching and influence their choices of teaching methods.
Computer science: student myths and misconceptions
This paper discusses common myths and misconceptions about the field of computer science. It addresses and attempts to dispel these notions in an effort to provide prospective computer science students and the general public with a more realistic view of the field.