A computer science camp for pre-collegiate students was operated during the summers of 2022 and 2023. The effect the camp had on attitudes was quantitatively assessed using a survey instrument. However, enrollment at the summer camp was small, which meant the well-known Pearson's Chi-Squared to measure the significance of results was not applied.…

There are many resources to guide successful K-12 cybersecurity education. The objective of these resources is to prepare skilled and ethical cybersecurity students at the earliest level to meet the demands of higher-level programs. The goal of this article is to provide, as a starting point, a list of as many currently popular K-12 educational…

Current research has not fully explored how summer programming camps can help students increase motivation and interest to pursue computing career, and their programming knowledge. Informal CS education through summer programming camps provides K-12 students the opportunity to learn how to code through fun and interactive activities outside of…

Several studies have focused on how in-person informal CS learning programs like summer camps and after-school programs impact Black girls' intent to persist in Computer Science; however, virtual informal CS learning programs remain to be studied. This mixed-methods study uses Intersectional Computing and Social Cognitive Career Theory to examine…

This dissertation research used an embedded qualitative case study research design to investigate a single educator's actions in teaching Black youth engineering and computing in a culturally appropriate and accessible manner. Historically, the engineering discipline has preserved and upheld Eurocentric standards for how learners should think and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a GenCyber camp curriculum on teachers' technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK). The camp was designed to engage participants in developing the knowledge and skills to incorporate GenCyber Cybersecurity First Principles and GenCyber Cybersecurity Concepts (GenCyber, 2019) into…

In response to the need to broaden participation in computer science, we designed a summer camp to teach middle-school-aged youth to code apps with MIT App Inventor. For the past four summers, we have observed significant gains in youth's interest and self-efficacy in computer science, after attending our camps. The majority of these youth,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the designed cultural ecology of a hip-hop and computational science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) camp and the ways in which that ecology contributed to culturally sustaining learning experiences for middle school youth. In using the principles of hip-hop as a CSP for design, the…

Research on innovative, integrated outreach programs guided three separate week-long outreach camps held across two summers (2018 and 2019). These camps introduced computer science through real-world applications and hands-on activities, each dealing with cybersecurity principles. The camps utilized low-cost hardware and free software to provide a…

This study examined what factors might have a positive impact on students' learning outcomes in mathematical understanding and computational thinking skills. Specifically, whether the proposed instructional design combining computational perspectives and an embodied approach in mathematics learning improves (a) mathematics learning, (b)…

Prior studies indicated that children's images of science and engineering greatly influenced their attitude toward career choice. This study explored how elementary school students perceived computer professionals and computer job tasks. Sixty-four students attending computer camps in 2 cities participated in the study. The Draw-a-Scientist Test…