Researching Pre-College Factors that Lead to Persistence in Computer Science

这项研究项目正在研究全国范围内向K-12学生提供计算机科学(CS)和计算思维(CT)的广泛努力，通过衡量这些努力对学生在计算机相关领域的职业兴趣和他们对计算的态度的影响。虽然向大学前学生提供CS和CT体验得到了广泛的支持，但关于校内/校外提供以及个人爱好和探索的普遍程度的全国性统计数据很少。尽管人们对大学前的CS和CT活动热情高涨，但几乎没有确凿的证据表明它们对学生的长期影响。虽然许多课程已经单独进行了评估，但该领域尚未调查大学前学生的CS和CT经历对他们对CS和STEM职业的兴趣、他们对CS的态度以及他们的CS认同感的相对影响。这项研究测量了CS和STEM教师以及其他学科的教师，以及在线资源创建者、校外教育工作者和其他相关专业人员做出的关于使用计算机和CT活动的决定的影响。这项研究能够揭示最有希望的教育实践和干预措施(许多是在NSF的支持下开发的)，包括校内计算和CT教学、课后计划、比赛和俱乐部，样本为全国具有代表性的一年级大学生。由于妇女以及某些种族和族裔少数群体在STEM和CS劳动力中的代表性不足一直是一个长期关注的问题，因此该项目将把重点放在女孩和代表性不足的少数群体上。它将决定这些群体在多大程度上能够获得与CS和CT相关的各种机会，以及这些机会在多大程度上转化为他们积极的长期结果。使用控制先前兴趣和背景变量的流行病学方法，这项回溯性队列研究将收集具有全国代表性的分层随机样本8000名大学生(注册参加必修的新生课程，以便包括对CS和CT具有各种水平的兴趣和经验的学生)。它将使用线性回归和逻辑回归来模拟先前任何与CS和CT相关的经历对学生CS态度、身份和职业兴趣的预测程度。流行病学技术提供了一种具有成本效益和广为人知的方法，可以同时测试多个假设，同时控制因个别受试者而不同的大量人口统计学和背景因素。该项目由CS for All：Research and RPPS计划资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This research project is studying the wide range of efforts underway nationwide to offer computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) to K-12 students, by measuring their impact on students' career interest in computer-related fields and on their attitudes toward computing. While there is widespread support for offering CS and CT experiences to pre-college students, there are few national statistics on the prevalence of in-school/out-of-school offerings, as well as personal hobbies and explorations. However great the enthusiasm about pre-college CS and CT initiatives, little definitive evidence exists about their long-term effects on students. Whereas many programs have been evaluated individually, the field has yet to examine the relative impact of pre-college students' CS and CT experiences on their interest in CS and STEM careers, their attitudes toward CS, and their CS identity. This study measures the impact of decisions about the use of computers and CT activities, made by CS and STEM teachers, as well as teachers of other subjects, along with those made by the creators of online resources, out-of-school time educators, and other involved professionals. This study has the capability to reveal the most promising educational practices and interventions (many developed with NSF support), including in-school computing and CT instruction, after-school programs, competitions, and clubs in a nationally representative sample of first-year college students. Because the under-representation of females and certain racial and ethnic minorities in the STEM and CS workforce has been a long-standing concern, this project will have a strong focus on girls and underrepresented minorities. It will determine both the degree to which these groups have access to the various CS and CT-related opportunities and the extent to which these opportunities translate into positive long-term outcomes for them.Using epidemiological methods that control for prior interest and background variables, this retrospective cohort study will collect a nationally representative, stratified random sample of 8,000 college students (enrolled in a mandatory freshman course, so that students with all levels of interest and experience in CS and CT are included). It will model the degree to which any prior CS- and CT-related experiences predict students' CS attitudes, identity, and career interests, using linear and logistic regression. Epidemiological techniques offer a cost effective and well-understood methodology to simultaneously test multiple hypotheses, while controlling for a host of demographic and background factors that differ for individual subjects. This project is funded by the CS for All: Research and RPPs program.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.