No Gender Difference in CS1 Grade for Students with Programming from High School: An Exploratory Study

Gjelsten, B. K., Bergersen, G. R., Sjøberg, D. I. K. and Cutts, Q. (2021) No Gender Difference in CS1 Grade for Students with Programming from High School: An Exploratory Study. In: Koli Calling '21: 21st Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research, Joensuu, Finland, 18-21 Nov 2021, ISBN 9781450384889 (doi: 10.1145/3488042.3488071)

Abstract

Programming is an increasingly important skill in the 21st century. Therefore, many education systems internationally offer non-compulsory programming (NCP) courses during high school years. Aim. Our goal is to study the effect of NCP on first-semester student performance in CS1. Because interest in computing is more often associated with men than women, we also want to study gender differences. Method. A total of 232 students from a Norwegian university were involved in the study. High school grades from the public student registry were analysed together with questionnaire data and the CS1 grade. Results. The students with NCP performed significantly better in CS1 than those without (average grade 4.4 vs. 3.6, where A, B, … , F is coded as 5, 4, … , 0). For women the difference in performance with and without NCP was 4.4 vs. 3.2, for men it was 4.4 vs. 3.8. Conclusion. This study shows that for students with NCP, the notorious gender difference in CS1 performance was absent. The other results merit further considerations regarding mathematics and science backgrounds, grades, prior experience, and self-efficacy.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cutts, Professor Quintin
• Authors: Gjelsten, B. K., Bergersen, G. R., Sjøberg, D. I. K., and Cutts, Q.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• Journal Name: 21st Koli Calling International Conference on Computing Education Research
• Publisher: ACM
• ISBN: 9781450384889