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A case study of supporting middle school girls' interest in computer science through an informal learning program

Bibliographic Data

ID21744154
AuthorsSarah Barksdale (0000-0002-9153-757X, University of Minnesota, corresponding author), Cassandra Scharber (0000-0003-2965-3307, University of Minnesota), Yu-Hui Chang (University of Minnesota)
Year2022
Volume54
Issue3
Pages359-374
Publication date2022-05-27
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Research on Technology in Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1539-1523 • E-ISSN: 1945-0818
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/15391523.2020.1864239
OpenAlexW3124216162
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited26

This qualitative case study describes how participation in an outside-of-school program sustained middle school girls’ interest in computer science and positively influenced their computational perspectives. Data consists of interviews, observations, and videos analyzed from ten girls participating in a nine-month program during 2017–2018. Connected learning and computational participation are the study’s theoretical frameworks and were incorporated into its research questions, data collection methods, and analysis strategies. Findings illustrate 1) girls’ sustained interest in and positive attitudes toward computer science; 2) girls’ evolving confidence and awareness of computational perspectives; and 3) the importance of group work in nurturing girls’ computational participation. This study contributes to the research on strategies for addressing the gender gap in computing through providing informal learning opportunities for young girls

Computational Thinking · Data collection · Mathematics education · Multimethodology · Pedagogy · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Child Development and Digital Technology · Computer Science · Gender and Technology in Education · Psychology · Teaching and Learning Programming

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