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Saving Bees with Computer Science: A Way to Spark Enthusiasm and Interest through Interdisciplinary Online Courses

Published: 30 June 2023 Publication History

Abstract

In computer science education (CSEd) it is a well-known challenge to create learning environments in which everyone can experience equal opportunities to identify themselves with the subject, get involved, and feel engaged. Especially for underrepresented groups such as girls or not computer enthusiasts, CSEd seems to lack sufficient opportunities at its current state. In this paper, we present a novel approach of using interdisciplinary online courses in the context of bee mortality and discuss the possibilities of such courses to enhance diverse learning in CSEd. We report summarized findings from a one-year period, including 16 workshops where over 160 secondary school students (aged 10-16) have participated in our online courses. Pre-test-post-test surveys have been conducted to gain insights into students' perceptions and attitude changes. The results show the potential of such interdisciplinary approaches to spark interest in computer science (CS) and to raise positive feelings toward programming. Particularly striking are the results from differentiated analyses of students grouped by characteristics such as low initial self-efficacy, coding aversion, or less computer affinity. We found multiple significant effects of our courses to impact students of those groups positively. Our results clearly indicate the potential of interdisciplinary CSEd to address a more diverse audience, especially traditionally underrepresented groups.

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  • (2025)Authentic interdisciplinary online courses for alternative pathways into computer scienceJournal of Systems and Software10.1016/j.jss.2024.112240219(112240)Online publication date: Jan-2025
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      cover image ACM Conferences
      ITiCSE 2023: Proceedings of the 2023 Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 1
      June 2023
      694 pages
      ISBN:9798400701382
      DOI:10.1145/3587102
      Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than the author(s) must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected].

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      Published: 30 June 2023

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      Author Tags

      1. STEM
      2. beginner
      3. diversity
      4. e-learning
      5. gender
      6. interdisciplinary curriculum
      7. interest

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      • COST Action - European Network for Gender Balance in Informatics (EUGAIN)
      • Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
      • Vector Stiftung

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      ITiCSE 2023
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      Overall Acceptance Rate 552 of 1,613 submissions, 34%

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      Cited By

      View all
      • (2025)Authentic interdisciplinary online courses for alternative pathways into computer scienceJournal of Systems and Software10.1016/j.jss.2024.112240219(112240)Online publication date: Jan-2025
      • (2024)Exploring Interest in Informatics with a Focus on K-12 Students’ Preferences in the Context of a Robotics WorkshopACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/369823924:4(1-22)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2024
      • (2024)Doing and Defining Interdisciplinarity in Undergraduate ComputingACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/365467624:3(1-26)Online publication date: 24-May-2024
      • (2024)Decoding the Gap: A Retrospective Analysis of Women's Experiences in Software EngineeringProceedings of the 5th ACM/IEEE Workshop on Gender Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in Software Engineering10.1145/3643785.3648495(27-28)Online publication date: 20-Apr-2024
      • (2024)Conceptualizing the Sample Mean: Insights for Computer Engineering Students in the Learning ProcessIEEE Transactions on Education10.1109/TE.2024.337679567:4(574-581)Online publication date: 1-Aug-2024
      • (2023)Novice Programmers Conceptions of Loops in K-12 Education in Consideration of Interest and AbilityProceedings of the 18th WiPSCE Conference on Primary and Secondary Computing Education Research10.1145/3605468.3605506(1-9)Online publication date: 27-Sep-2023
      • (2023)Exploring Effects of Online and Face-to-Face Teaching Formats on Students’ Interest and EngagementProceedings of the 18th WiPSCE Conference on Primary and Secondary Computing Education Research10.1145/3605468.3605499(1-10)Online publication date: 27-Sep-2023
      • (2023)RockStartIT: Authentic and Inclusive Interdisciplinary Software Engineering Courses2023 IEEE/ACM 4th Workshop on Gender Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Software Engineering (GEICSE)10.1109/GEICSE59319.2023.00012(56-62)Online publication date: May-2023

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