Charting a path for growth in middle school students’ attitudes toward computer programming

ABSTRACT

Background and Context

Differences in children’s and adolescents’ initial attitudes about computing and other STEM fields may form during middle school and shape decisions leading to career entry. Early emerging differences in career interest may propagate a lack of diversity in computer science and programming fields.

Objective

Though middle school is recognized as a formative period in the development of career interest, there appears to be a gap in research considering growth disparities in students’ attitudes towards computer programming. We examine outcomes related to students’ use of an e-learning platform designed to promote exposure to computer science content. We consider growth in middle school students’ attitudes towards computer programming during an academic year while controlling for variation in key baseline factors.

Method

We tracked growth in attitudes towards computer programming among middle school students (N = 610; M_age = 12.07) in schools serving underrepresented minority (URM) students (74.7% URM) during an academic year in which they used an online platform curating computer programming educational content.

Findings

We found baseline differences in students’ interest and aspirations toward computer programming on the basis of gender and underrepresented status, after controlling for math attitudes. There was evidence of initial growth in all four domains of computer programming attitudes, irrespective of gender or underrepresented status.

Implications

These findings provide a framework for studying changes in students’ computer programming attitudes, which may help in addressing workforce participation disparities. Future work is needed to promote early computer programming attitudes among all students.

KEYWORDS:

• Computer science education
• middle school
• STEM attitudes
• STEM education
• STEM workforce diversity
• growth model

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08993408.2022.2134677.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the National Science Foundation for providing support for the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the Center for Research Computing at the University of Notre Dame (PI: Paul Brenner, Ph.D.; #1852457). We would also like to thank Audrey Filonczuk, Maya Mosley, Eliana Sanchez, and Allison Wang, who served as research assistants in the early stages of the analysis described in this manuscript, in addition to Emily Kane who provided insightful comments in the manuscript revision process. Finally, we would like to thank the teachers and students who participated in this project. A portion of this work was presented at the Society for Research in Child Development 2021 Biennial Meeting.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available upon request from the corresponding author.

Geolocation information

Data reported in the present study was collected from participants located in the United States of America.

Notes

1. https://www.curatedpathways.org/

Additional information

Funding

Preliminary work on this project was supported by the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the Center for Research Computing at the University of Notre Dame (PI: Paul Brenner, Ph.D.; # 1852457; National Science Foundation, United States.

Notes on contributors

Teresa M. Ober

Teresa M. Ober, Ph.D., is a former Assistant Research Professor at the University of Notre Dame who worked in the Learning Analytics and Measurement in Behavioral Sciences (LAMBS) Lab. She is currently an Associate Research Scientist at the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Dr. Ober’s research broadly examines student engagement and equitable assessment practices.

Ying Cheng

Ying Cheng, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Psychology, Fellow of the Institute for Educational Initiatives, Associate Director of the Lucy Family Institute for Data and Society, and Director of the LAMBS Lab at the University of Notre Dame.

Meghan R. Coggins

Meghan R. Coggins, B.S., is a recent graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a former research assistant in the LAMBS Lab.

Paul Brenner

Paul Brenner, Ph.D., is a Director at the Center for Research Computing at the University of Notre Dame, a Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) faculty member, a U.S. military veteran, and local K-8 school board member. Dr. Brenner manages over 40 scientists and technical staff in the support and execution of multi-disciplinary research projects, all with a significant computational component.

Janice Zdankus

Janice Zdankus, MBA, is Vice President of Innovation for Social Impact at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). Janice Zdankus leads the companys initiative to bring technology innovation and employee skills-based volunteering to critical global issues.

Philip Gonsalves

Philip Gonsalves is the Chief Learning Officer and Interim Executive Director for Curated Pathways to Innovation. Gonsalves formerly served as the Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction for the Santa Clara Unified School District, and Senior Director of STEM Initiatives for the West Contra Costa Unified School District.

Emmanuel Johnson

Emmanuel Johnson, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Southern California and the Lead Software Architect of Curated Pathways to Innovation.

Tim Urdan

Tim Urdan, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Santa Clara University whose research has examined the motivation among adolescent students during middle and high school years.