This study aims to examine the current experiences of high school students in computer science (CS) courses and the factors that motivated them to continue their future enrollment. The participants were 603 high school students in grades 9 through 12 in Indiana, all of whom enrolled in at least one CS course during the 2020-2021 academic year.…

While a growing emphasis has been placed on broadening participation in computer science (CS) education, an enduring gender gap exists. One reason for this is gender-based CS stereotypes, which serve as gatekeepers and act in exclusionary ways. However, some high schools in the U.S. have still built gender-inclusive CS programs. We conducted a…

During young adolescence, many youth develop strong identities in relation to science, technology, engineering and mathematics with computing (STEM + C). One way to design for student engagement in STEM + C is to create project-based units that leverage students' interests. We created one such unit, called the "smart greenhouse project".…

In this study, the authors analyzed data from a sample of thirty-two middle school students from an urban school district in the southeastern United States who used MIT's App Inventor to design, create, and remix mobile apps during an afterschool program for one school year. This paper focuses on computer science learning outcomes as measured by…

Current research surrounding online computer science education emphasizes the need for high-quality professional development opportunities. However, there is a gap in research in the inclusion of online computer science educators to identify needs and strategies that make the online computer science courses effective. Through a…

In the recent years, there has been a push to engage primary and secondary students in computer science to prepare them to live and work in a world influenced by computation. One of the efforts involves getting primary and secondary students to think computationally by introducing computational ideas such as, algorithms and abstraction. Majority…

In this paper, we describe the design, development, and implementation of a curriculum based on teaching computer science using an industry-standard game-design software: Unity 3D. We discuss the theoretical underpinnings of our instructional design process and steps we have taken to introduce complexity and maintain student motivation. We discuss…