ABSTRACT
We have begun the process of examining how students perceive the field of computer science by employing a novice-to-expert continuum framework. As part of this exploration we have developed and are validating the Computing Attitudes Survey (CAS). In this study, our research focuses on how students develop expert-like attitudes and what effect an introductory course may have on that development. In particular, we find that the CAS instrument can be used to detect pre/post attitude shifts after a single introductory course of instruction and that individual subpopulations show positive attitude gains across gender, area of study and pedagogy Further, the CAS can also be used to identify significant pre/post attitude shifts among individual component factors, groupings of items on the survey that characterize different aspects of novice thought processes.
- W. K. Adams, K. K. Perkins, N. S. Podolefsky, M. Dubson, N. D. Finkelstein, and C. E. Wieman. A new instrument for measuring student beliefs about physics and learning physics: The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey. Physical Review Special Topics-Physics Education Research, 2(010101): 1-14, 2006.Google Scholar
- J. Barbera, W. K. Adams, C. E. Wieman, and K. K. Perkins. Modifying and validating the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey for use in chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education, 85(10): 1435-1439, 2008.Google ScholarCross Ref
- L. J. Barker, K. Garvin-Doxas, and M. Jackson. Defensive climate in the computer science classroom. In Proc. of SIGCSE '02, pages 43-47, 2002. Google ScholarDigital Library
- J. D. Bransford, A. L. Brown, and R. R. Cocking. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., expanded edition, 2000.Google Scholar
- P. Carter. An experience report: On the use of multimedia pre-instruction and just-in-time teaching in a CS1 course. In Proc. of SIGCSE '12:, pages 361-366, 2012. Google ScholarDigital Library
- C. S. Dweck. Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist, 41(10):1040-1048, 1986.Google ScholarCross Ref
- A. Elliott Tew, B. Dorn, and O. Schneider. Toward a validated computing attitudes survey. In Proc. of ICER'12, pages 135-142, 2012. Google ScholarDigital Library
- M. Felleisen, R. B. Findler, M. Flatt, and S. Krishnamurthi. How to Design Programs. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2nd edition, 2012.Google Scholar
- D. Hammer. Epistemological beliefs in introductory physics. Cognition and Instruction, 12(2):151-183, 1994.Google ScholarCross Ref
- J. D. House. Student motivation and achievement in college chemistry. International Journal of Instructional Media, 21(1):1-11, 1994.Google Scholar
- J. D. House. Student motivation, previous instructional experience, and prior achievement as predictors of performance in college mathematics. International Journal of Instructional Media, 22(2): 157-167, 1995.Google Scholar
- C. M. Lewis, K. Yasuhara, and R. E. Anderson. Deciding to major in computer science: A grounded theory of students' self-assessment of ability. In Proc. of ICER'11, pages 3-10, 2011. Google ScholarDigital Library
- J. Margolis and A. Fisher. Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2002.Google Scholar
- K. K. Perkins, W. K. Adams, S. J. Pollock, N. D. Finkelstein, and C. E. Wieman. Correlating student beliefs with student learning using the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey. In Proc. of the 2004 Physics Education Research Conference, pages 61-64, 2004.Google Scholar
- K. Semsar, J. K. Knight, G. Birol, and M. K. Smith. The Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS) for use in biology. Life Sciences Education, 10:268-278, 2011.Google ScholarCross Ref
- E. Seymour and N. M. Hewitt. Talking About Leaving: Why Undergraduates Leave the Sciences. Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 1997.Google Scholar
- J. Summet, D. Kumar, K. O'Hara, D. Walker, L. Ni, D. Blank, and T. Balch. Personalizing CS1 with robots. In Proc. of SIGCSE '09, pages 433-437, 2009. Google ScholarDigital Library
- J. C. Valentine, D. L. DuBois, and H. Cooper. The relation between self-beliefs and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review. Educational Psychologist, 39(2):111-133, 2004.Google ScholarCross Ref
Index Terms
- Becoming experts: measuring attitude development in introductory computer science
Recommendations
Toward a validated computing attitudes survey
ICER '12: Proceedings of the ninth annual international conference on International computing education researchThe Computing Attitudes Survey (CAS) is a newly designed instrument, adapted from the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS), for measuring novice to expert-like perceptions about computer science. In this paper we outline the ...
Attitudes of individuals with visual impairments towards distance education
The aims of this work were to examine the attitudes of individuals with visual impairments towards distance education (DE) and the relationships between attitudes and participants' personal characteristics. Forty-one adults with visual impairments, who ...
High School Students' Attitudes about Socioscientific Issues Contextualized in Inquiry-based Chemistry Instruction
ICEMT '18: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Education and Multimedia TechnologyThe aim of this research was to examine high school students' attitudes about socioscientific issues contextualized in inquiry-based chemistry instruction. The research was conducted on high school students studying chemistry in two different schools in ...
Comments