Student Attitudes During the Pilot of the Computer Science Frontiers Course.

Motivation. We have created a modular project-based learning curriculum, Computer Science Frontiers (CSF) [1, 8], for secondary students in attempts to increase the persistence of computer science (CS) students in higher education. The CSF course is divided into four different modules (Distributed Computing, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and Software Engineering), each centered around a topic typically introduced to students only in higher education. Using the block-based programming environment NetsBlox [4], students are able to access various Application Programming Interfaces related to their interests [2, 3]. The goal of this course is to increase student interest in CS during high school - when first career choices occur [7] - in hopes they will persist in CS during their undergraduate studies. Research question. The research question for this study was: How does the Computer Science Frontiers course affect student attitudes towards computer science? Research Methods. We conducted over 20 interviews with students throughout a CSF pilot course that took place over the 2022-2023 school year. Interviews were conducted with at least five students at the end of every module. Two researchers have conducted thematic analysis with student responses from the first two modules [5]: Distributed Computing (DC) and Internet of Things (IoT). First, the two researchers developed a norm by tagging one interview together [6]. Next, the researchers independently coded the rest of the interviews for each module. After completing a single module’s interviews, the researchers met to rectify any discrepancies. Finally, the tags were grouped together based on common themes. Through this process, we found a total of seven themes. Results. The themes found through thematic analysis include: computer science, attitudes towards course, student wants, student struggles, attitudes towards projects, collaboration, and student progression. As a result of this study, we have identified different needs for secondary students with varying background in CS when studying more advanced CS topics, such as IoT. For example, a need of students who have less prior CS knowledge than others may be to review programming concepts in order to be successful in the course. We have also identified a positive change in student’s attitudes towards computer science after the first two modules. These insights provide the CS education community with ways to engage students with concepts that they have not been exposed to and how to increase their interest in CS. Implications. The CSF curriculum is currently online, and is available to computer science instructors. Each module is separated into eight to nine units which are accompanied by activities and teaching guides. This curriculum provides educators with materials and activities to introduce students to more advanced CS topics, either through individual modules or as an entire course. In future research, we plan to use CSF in an outreach program and implement the course in two secondary classrooms in the 2023-2024 school year.