Improving girls’ perception of computer science as a viable career option through game playing and design: Lessons from a systematic literature review

The objective of exposing girls to Computer Science as a career option has led to research directed towards gaming activities for girls. These activities include both game play and game design. Research about gaming activities for increasing girls’ interest in computer science has gained much attention over the past few years and has resulted in a number of contributions. We follow up with an overview of the status of research through a Systematic Literature Review. We investigate the relation between the various game playing or designing activities and their impact on girls’ perception of Computer Science as a career choice. We further present the design consideration for the games and related activities to potentially improve the perception of girls towards a Computer Science career. The applied method is a Systematic Literature Review through which we investigate which contributions were made, which knowledge areas were most explored, and which research facets have been used. We identify 25 papers to distill a common understanding of the state-of-the-art. Specifically, we investigate the effects that the game play/design activities had on girls’ perception about Computer Science; and what are the key design factors to be kept in mind while designing a serious game to improve girls’ perception about Computer Science. The results of this systematic literature review show that game playing or designing could indeed improve how girls perceive having a career in CS. The key aspects that such activities require are personalizing, opportunity for collaboration and the presence of a female lead characterThis work has been done during the tenure of an ERCIM Alain Bensoussan fellowshi

Scalable Game Design Switzerland

Das Modul «Medien und Informatik» des Lehrplans 21 verlangt von Primarlehrpersonen, dass sie mit ihren Schülerinnen und Schülern verschiedene Kompetenzen und Inhalte im Bereich der Informatik erarbeiten. Für die Erfüllung dieses Auftrags benötigen die angehenden Lehrpersonen eine entsprechende Ausbildung, die sie mit dem relevanten Fachwissen und den erforderlichen Kompetenzen in der Informatik ausstattet. Um dies zu gewährleisten, hat die Professur für Informatische Bildung (IB) der PH FHNW im Herbst 2017 mit dem zweisemestrigen Modul «Informatische Bildung» eines der schweizweit ersten obligatorischen Veranstaltungen für alle Bachelorstudierenden des Instituts Primarstufe eingeführt. Das Modul ist die praktische Umsetzung der theoretischen Konzepte und fachdidaktischen Ansätze von Scalable Game Design Switzerland (SGD Switzerland). Bei SGD Switzerland handelt es sich um die auf Schweizer Erfordernisse angepasste Weiterentwicklung von SGD USA – ein jahrzehntelang erprobtes umfassendes Curriculum für die Vermittlung von informatischer Bildung. Grundlage und Essenz von SGD Switzerland und somit auch von dem Konzept des neuen Moduls ist das Verständnis von Denken mit dem Computer – das sogenannte Computational Thinking. Das Konzept des Moduls «Informatischen Bildung», bei welchem die Schulung des analytischen, lösungsorientierten Denkens mit dem Computer im Fokus steht, ist ein Novum schweizweit. Dieser Beitrag erläutert das Konzept des Moduls IB und präsentiert einen ersten Einblick in die Eindrücke der Studenten, die den Kurs besucht haben

Making und die Informatik

Making lässt Schüler:innen zu Erfinder:innen innen werden, lässt sie die digitale Welt mitgestalten und ermöglicht ihnen, diese durch aktives Handeln zu verstehen. Während oft ein ästhetisch ansprechendes Produkt entsteht, ist es vor allem der Prozess dorthin, der für das Lernen relevant ist. Making für den schulischen Kontext ist bisher eher durch einen klar definierten Prozess zu einem gezielten Produkt gekennzeichnet. Dies macht die Aktivität organisatorisch wie inhaltlich planbar und gibt Sicherheit. Maker-Bildung beschreibt darüber hinaus auch einen offenen Prozess, in dem Lernwege und Ergebnisse nicht vordefiniert sind und in dem Fehler, Um- und Weiterdenken erlaubt sind. Dafür braucht es Räume und Kompetenzen, die derartiges Arbeiten zulassen und davon profitieren. Die Informatik als problemlösende Disziplin kann Maker-Bildung im Unterricht umsetzen. Damit lässt sich einerseits der Prozess der Informatik durch die Arbeit an einem Projekt verdeutlichen, andererseits werden informatische Kompetenzen benötigt, um Produkte zu entwickeln, die über einfache Informatiksysteme hinausgehen. Im Artikel zeigen wir, warum es hier die Informatik braucht und warum Maker-Bildung im Informatikunterricht umgesetzt werden sollte

A longitudinal analysis of pathways to computing careers: Defining broadening participation in computing (BPC) success with a rearview lens

Efforts to increase the participation of groups historically underrepresented in computing studies, and in the computing workforce, are well documented. It is a national effort with funding from a variety of sources being allocated to research in broadening participation in computing (BPC). Many of the BPC efforts are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) but as existing literature shows, the growth in representation of traditionally underrepresented minorities and women is not commensurate to the efforts and resources that have been directed toward this aim. Instead of attempting to tackle the barriers to increasing representation, this dissertation research tackles the underrepresentation problem by identifying what has worked (leveraging existing real-world data) to increase representation. This work studies the educational pathways of persons who have successfully transitioned into the computing workforce and identifies the common roadmaps that have contributed to retention, persistence, and success in attaining computing employment. Descriptive statistics, Logistic regression, Classification algorithms, Clustering, and Predictive analytics were employed, using the Stata statistical tool and Orange Data Mining tool on real-world data, to identify educational pathways that have resulted in successful employment outcomes for women and blacks in computing. The results of this analysis have highlighted key information that is capable of informing future “Broadening Participation in Computing” (BPC) efforts. This is because the information will enable researchers and decision makers to have a clearer picture of what educational choices have resulted in favorable outcomes for underrepresented minorities and women in computing; and consequently, researchers and decision makers would be able to more accurately target their BPC efforts to achieve optimal results. This knowledge can also be applied in career advising for young students who are trying to chart their path into computing, providing insight into alternative pathways

Female computer science and engineering undergraduates: reflections on participation in the academic landscape

Women continue to be underrepresented in computer science and technology related fields despite their significant contributions. The lack of diversity in technology related fields is problematic as it can result in the perpetuation of negative stereotypes and closed-minded, unchecked biases. As technology tools become integral to our daily lives it is essential that a diverse group of people contribute to the sociocultural environments where we participate and live. This dissertation is a phenomenological, interview-based, study designed to investigate the lived experience of women in undergraduate computer science and engineering programs. The purpose of this study was to better understand the factors that might encourage or discourage the participation women in the major and in the field. In order to grow the number of women in technical fields it is important to first understand what attracts them to the field and what supports they find helpful or not helpful. This study illuminated some recommendations that might guide the work of practitioners in secondary schools as well as higher education. Among other things, participants appreciated being challenged by the content and assignments, feeling support from faculty and peers, feeling a connection to the culture, effective encouragement to persist, and engaging interactions. All of the participants described having gone into their field to make a positive impact on society and they also all described the importance having at least one supportive female mentor. Participants described the importance of having spaces where they felt included and appreciated their professors and peers who pushed back against the historical CS-world stereotypes. While the experience of each participant was unique, and there were some very negative experiences, all six participants reported having mostly positive experience in their undergraduate programs

Sources of Ambiguity in Teaching Technology

The public school system is charged with the endeavor of preparing students for college and/or careers. Currently there is a shortage of qualified individuals to fill jobs in the technology field. These job opportunities will continue to grow while the amount of potential employees dwindles. There is an issue with supply and demand, what are public schools doing to fill this need? They invest millions of dollars to put technology in the hands of students but what is being taught about technology and how is it being taught? The purpose of this qualitative study is to describe the current situation in public schools and the universities that supply teachers to those public schools with regard to teaching technology in a Midwestern area. Three groups of individuals were interviewed: teachers, directors of curriculum, and university professors that teach education technology to preservice teachers. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed then coded for specific words and phrases. Findings showed that a majority of participants were focused on technology integration and student engagement rather than teaching technology concepts. Teachers and university professors had the freedom to choose what they taught about technology yet had very little training on teaching technology. Most were self-taught and located resources on their own time. With this freedom to create lessons on their own, ambiguity arises concerning the content, coherence, consistency, and reliability of the resources used in the development of the lessons. The educational professionals in this study are the gatekeepers of technology, which could affect equity, academic achievement, cultural capital, and future career choices of students