research-article

Making Computer Science Education Mandatory: Exploring a Demographic Shift in Switzerland.

Authors:

Alexander Repenning,

Serge Petralito,

Ashok BasawapatnaAuthors Info & Claims

ITiCSE '19: Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

Pages 422 - 428

https://doi.org/10.1145/3304221.3319758

Published: 02 July 2019 Publication History

Abstract

A promising approach to make K-12 Computer Science education more systemic could arise from a strategy focusing mostly on pre-service teachers educated through mandatory courses instead of self-selected in-service teachers. When employing mandatory courses, schools of education can reach all future teachers, but what are potential consequences resulting from this demographic shift? Pre-service teachers may not expect to acquire programming skills and may not be convinced of the relevance of Computer Science. In 2017, one of the first mandatory Computer Science education courses for pre-service K-12 teachers was introduced at the School of Education of northwestern Switzerland (PH FHNW). The mandatory nature of the course was possible because of the introduction of Computer Science as a subject in a new national curriculum. The course, based on Scalable Game Design, was taken by over 600, mostly female (75%), pre-service elementary school teachers. This paper explores the characteristics of this new audience and investigates the consequences of mandatory pre-service teacher Computer Science education. While our research shows that the course was successful, with regards to improving the students' skills, it reveals significant gender effects concerning attitudes towards Computer Science and self-efficacy.

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Index Terms

Making Computer Science Education Mandatory: Exploring a Demographic Shift in Switzerland.
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
  2. User characteristics
    1. Gender

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cover image ACM Conferences

ITiCSE '19: Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

July 2019

583 pages

ISBN:9781450368957

DOI:10.1145/3304221

General Chairs:
Bruce Scharlau
University of Aberdeen, UK
,
Roger McDermott
Robert Gordon University, UK
,
Program Chairs:
Arnold Pears
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
,
Mihaela Sabin
University of New Hampshire, USA

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Published: 02 July 2019

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3545945.3569822
Parham-Mocello JGarcia JSadler M(2023)Engineering Student Perspectives of a New Required Programming Course2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343028(1-9)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343028
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-023-11653-4
Pellet JParriaux GChevalier M(2022)Design and Analysis of a Disciplinary Computer Science Course for Pre-service Primary TeachersInformatics in Schools. A Step Beyond Digital Education10.1007/978-3-031-15851-3_11(125-137)Online publication date: 26-Sep-2022
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