Computing Science: what do pupils think?

Mitchell, A., Purchase, H.C. and Hamer, J. (2009) Computing Science: what do pupils think? In: 14th Annual ACM SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, Paris, France, 6-9 Jul 2009, p. 353. (doi: 10.1145/1562877.1562995)

Abstract

University marketing endeavours attempt to encourage school leavers to study Computing Science; the success of such attempts are becoming increasingly crucial as we see a drop in Computing Science enrollments. However, the marketing typically focusses on presenting Computing Science from the point of view of how we academics view it, with little understanding of what school pupils know of Computing Science, or their perceptions of it. We report on an extensive study into high school students' perceptions of Computing Science as a discipline, degree programme and career, and conclude that few students have a clear notion as to what Computing Science is, and that their perceptions of the discipline develop early on in their school career.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Hamer, Dr John and Purchase, Dr Helen
• Authors: Mitchell, A., Purchase, H.C., and Hamer, J.
• Subjects: Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science; L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• Publisher: ACM