Measuring high school students' attitudes toward computing

Many projects throughout the United States are underway that seek to increase the appeal of technology as a field of study. To better understand the impacts of such projects, validated instruments are needed which measure students' attitudes and beliefs in both computer science and information technology. This paper describes the development and validation of two assessment instruments. One measures attitudes and beliefs about computer science; the other measures attitudes and beliefs about information technology. The questions that comprise these instruments are identical with the exception of the use of the terms "computer science" and "information technology". Both instruments sought to measure five constructs: confidence, interest, gender, usefulness, and professional. Based on the results of factor analyses, high school students are able to distinguish among these constructs in computer science but not in information technology. This raises questions as to what high school students understand about field of information technology.