Development, Implementation, and Outcomes of an Equitable Computer Science After-School Program: Findings From Middle-School Students

Abstract

Current policy efforts that seek to improve learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) emphasize the importance of helping all students acquire concepts and tools from computer science that help them analyze and develop solutions to everyday problems. These goals have been generally described in the literature under the term computational thinking. In this article, we report on the design, implementation, and outcomes of an after-school program on computational thinking. The program was founded through a partnership between university faculty, undergraduates, teachers, and students. Specifically, we examine how equitable pedagogical practices can be applied in the design of computing programs and the ways in which participation in such programs influence middle school students' learning of computer science concepts, computational practices, and attitudes toward computing. Participants included 52 middle school students who voluntarily attended the 9-week after-school program, as well as four undergraduates and one teacher who designed and implemented the program. Data were collected from after-school program observations, undergraduate reflections, computer science content assessments, programming products, and attitude surveys. The results indicate that the program positively influenced student learning of computer science concepts and attitudes toward computing. Findings have implications for the design of effective learning experiences that broaden participation in computing. (Keywords: computational thinking, programming, middle school, mixed methods)

 Acknowledgments

The authors thank the teacher, students, and undergraduates who participated in this work, as well as Partner4CS members James Atlas and Terry Harvey.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

Research reported in this article was supported by National Science Foundation under award number: 1240905. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Science Foundation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chrystalla Mouza

Chrystalla Mouza is an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. Her research interests focus on the development of computational thinking in K–16 settings, teacher technological pedagogical content knowledge, and emerging technologies for the classroom. Please address correspondence regarding this article to Chrystalla Mouza, School of Education, University of Delaware, 219D Willard Hall, Newark, DE 19716, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

Alison Marzocchi

Alison Marzocchi is an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics at California State University, Fullerton. Her research interests focus on recruitment and retention of underrepresented students in mathematics and computing.

Yi-Cheng Pan

Yi-Cheng Pan is a doctoral candidate in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. His research interests focus on the development of computational thinking and application of new technologies in K–16 settings. Lori Pollock is a professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Delaware. Her research interests focus on improving the participation of women and other underrepresented groups in computer science.