The Motivation to Teach Computer Science (MTCS) scale: development, validation, and implications for use

ABSTRACT

Background and Context

As computer science (CS) education expands and the need for well-prepared CS teachers grows, understanding what motivates teachers to teach CS can help address challenges to recruiting, preparing, and retaining teachers.

Objective

The goal of this work was to develop and validate a scale that measures teachers’ motivation to begin teaching CS.

Method

Items were field tested with CS teachers. Exploratory factor analysis (n=167) resulted in an 18-item scale measuring four factors of teachers’ motivation related to external pressures, external benefits, student benefits, and personal enjoyment. Confirmatory factor analysis (n=495) was used to assess construct validity of the final scale.

Findings

Results indicate that the scale is reliable and measures four distinct, but related, constructs of teacher motivation on a continuum from external to increasingly internal.

Implications

Researchers and practitioners can utilize this scale to understand teachers’ motivations to teach CS and explore how these motivations relate to CS teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention.

KEYWORDS:

• Motivation
• teachers
• computer science
• measurement
• factor analysis
• self-determination theory

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all of the teachers who participated in this study and our colleagues Carol Fletcher and Lisa Garbrecht for their support. This work was funded by the Siegel Family Endowment.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Siegel Family Endowment.