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

本研究项目通过测量全国范围内为向K-12学生提供计算机科学（CS）和计算思维（CT）所做的广泛努力，对学生对计算机相关领域的职业兴趣和对计算的态度产生的影响进行研究。虽然有广泛的支持提供CS和CT的经验，大学预科学生，有一些关于在校/校外产品的流行率，以及个人爱好和探索的国家统计数据。无论对大学前CS和CT计划的热情有多大，关于它们对学生的长期影响几乎没有确切的证据。虽然许多程序已经单独评估，该领域还没有检查大学预科学生的CS和CT经验对他们的CS和STEM职业的兴趣，他们对CS的态度，以及他们的CS身份的相对影响。这项研究措施的影响，关于使用计算机和CT活动的决定，由CS和STEM教师，以及其他科目的教师，沿着与在线资源的创建者，校外时间的教育工作者，和其他相关的专业人士。这项研究有能力揭示最有前途的教育实践和干预措施（许多是在NSF的支持下开发的），包括在全国代表性的大学一年级学生样本中的校内计算和CT教学，课后计划，比赛和俱乐部。由于女性和某些种族和少数民族在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，因此该项目将重点关注女孩和代表性不足的少数民族。它将确定这些群体获得各种CS和CT相关机会的程度以及这些机会转化为他们积极长期结局的程度。使用控制先前兴趣和背景变量的流行病学方法，这项回顾性队列研究将收集具有全国代表性的分层随机样本8，000名大学生（参加了强制性的大一课程，因此包括了对CS和CT感兴趣和有经验的学生）。它将模拟任何先前的CS和CT相关的经验预测学生的CS态度，身份和职业兴趣的程度，使用线性和逻辑回归。流行病学技术提供了一种具有成本效益且易于理解的方法，可以同时测试多个假设，同时控制个体受试者不同的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知识价值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.