Developing an Inclusive K-12 Outreach Model

This paper outlines the longitudinal development of a K-12 outreachmodel, to promote Computer Science in Ireland. Over a three-yearperiod, it has been piloted to just under 9700 K-12 students fromalmost every county in Ireland. The model consists of a two-hourcamp that introduces students to a range of Computer Sciencetopics: addressing computing perceptions, introduction to codingand exploration of computational thinking. The model incorporateson-site school delivery and is available at no cost to any interestedschool across Ireland. The pilot study so far collected over 3400surveys (pre- and post-outreach delivery).Schools from all over Ireland self-selected to participate, includ-ing male only, female only and mixed schools. The no-cost natureof the model meant schools deemed disadvantaged , to privatefee-paying schools participated. Initial findings are very positive,including the balance of male and female participants, where in the2017-18 academic year it was 56:44 and in 2019-20 (to date), it is35:65 respectively. Once the model is validated and tweaked (basedon survey data), the model will be published (open access) for otherinstitutions to implement the model locally. In addition, the authorsintend to link schools (that the team have worked with over thethree years) with local institutions, thus developing a sustainableecosystem for the program to continue. This paper describes themodel structure and outlines early finding

ANALYZING RESPONSES TO OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS FOR SPIRIT USING ASPECT ORIENTED SENTIMENT ANALYSIS

Open ended questions provide an effective way of measuring the attitude and perception of respondents towards a topic. Surprising Possibilities Imagined and Realized through Information Technology (SPIRIT) was a program (2008-2012) that employed open-ended questions to gauge program participants\u27 attitudes related to computing. SPIRIT sought to increase the interest of high school students, especially female students, towards computing courses and careers. Pre- and post-attitude surveys were used during the program to measure the changes in attitudes of the participants towards IT and also to analyze the impact different sessions had on different demographic groups of participants. The open-ended survey questions from SPIRIT provide the data needed for this study\u27s analysis. SPIRIT\u27s external evaluator employed the constant comparison method to analyze the participant data. This study analyzed those same responses using aspect-oriented sentiment analysis to make reporting and decision making for such programs easier and more objective than human evaluation. The approach identified the aspect of each phrase or statement made in the responses and then quantitatively classified the sentiment of each aspect. Thus, the study\u27s approach not only solves the problem of objectively analyzing the open-ended responses of participants of short term educational programs similar to SPIRIT but also may help mine new information from the surveys that would help make decisions in order to make future programs have a better impact on the participants

Making it Better: Value Perceptions of Usability Workshops in Education Outreach

IS Education outreach programs are important today, as the need for Information Technology (IT) professionals has risen in the last decades. Information Systems (IS) outreach efforts are often short lived and rely heavily on interested individuals to make them happen. This study looks at one case in Finland, where two universities collaborate with a company to create usability improvement workshops to upper secondary school students. By interviewing the stakeholders, this study aims to map the value for each stakeholder group, and their reasons for participating in the studied outreach project. Service dominant logic and value co-creation are used as the theoretical framework to categorize stakeholders’ value expectations, perceptions, and propositions. The paper reports the value experienced by each stakeholder group, compares those to what others expect them to gain, and seeks to find ways to create outreach programs that benefit all participants