TY - GEN
T1 - Measuring high school students' attitudes toward computing
AU - Heersink, Daniel
AU - Moskal, Barbara M.
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Assessment
KW - High school computing
KW - Outreach
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77952145709&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/1734263.1734413
DO - 10.1145/1734263.1734413
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:77952145709
SN - 9781605588858
T3 - SIGCSE'10 - Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
SP - 446
EP - 450
BT - SIGCSE'10 - Proceedings of the 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
T2 - 41st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, SIGCSE'10
Y2 - 10 March 2010 through 13 March 2010
ER -