TY - GEN
T1 - Developing an Inclusive K-12 Outreach Model
AU - Nolan, Karen
AU - Faherty, Roisin
AU - Quille, Keith
AU - Becker, Brett A.
AU - Bergin, Susan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 ACM.
PY - 2020/6/15
Y1 - 2020/6/15
N2 - This paper outlines the longitudinal development of a K-12 outreach model, to promote Computer Science in Ireland. Over a three-year period, it has been piloted to just under 9700 K-12 students from almost every county in Ireland. The model consists of a two-hour camp that introduces students to a range of Computer Science topics: addressing computing perceptions, introduction to coding and exploration of computational thinking. The model incorporates on-site school delivery and is available at no cost to any interested school across Ireland. The pilot study so far collected over 3400 surveys (pre- and post- outreach delivery). Schools from all over Ireland self-selected to participate, including male only, female only and mixed schools. The no-cost nature of the model meant schools deemed "disadvantaged", to private fee-paying schools participated. Initial findings are very positive, including the balance of male and female participants, where in the 2017-18 academic year it was 56:44 and in 2019-20 (to date), it is 35:65 respectively. Once the model is validated and tweaked (based on survey data), the model will be published (open access) for other institutions to implement the model locally. In addition, the authors intend to link schools (that the team have worked with over the three years) with local institutions, thus developing a sustainable ecosystem for the program to continue. This paper describes the model structure and outlines early findings.
AB - This paper outlines the longitudinal development of a K-12 outreach model, to promote Computer Science in Ireland. Over a three-year period, it has been piloted to just under 9700 K-12 students from almost every county in Ireland. The model consists of a two-hour camp that introduces students to a range of Computer Science topics: addressing computing perceptions, introduction to coding and exploration of computational thinking. The model incorporates on-site school delivery and is available at no cost to any interested school across Ireland. The pilot study so far collected over 3400 surveys (pre- and post- outreach delivery). Schools from all over Ireland self-selected to participate, including male only, female only and mixed schools. The no-cost nature of the model meant schools deemed "disadvantaged", to private fee-paying schools participated. Initial findings are very positive, including the balance of male and female participants, where in the 2017-18 academic year it was 56:44 and in 2019-20 (to date), it is 35:65 respectively. Once the model is validated and tweaked (based on survey data), the model will be published (open access) for other institutions to implement the model locally. In addition, the authors intend to link schools (that the team have worked with over the three years) with local institutions, thus developing a sustainable ecosystem for the program to continue. This paper describes the model structure and outlines early findings.
KW - K-12
KW - computer science education
KW - computing camps inclusive
KW - female student
KW - outreach
KW - perceptions
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85086469352&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/3341525.3387421
DO - 10.1145/3341525.3387421
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85086469352
T3 - Annual Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE
SP - 145
EP - 151
BT - ITiCSE 2020 - Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education
PB - Association for Computing Machinery
T2 - 25th ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education, ITiCSE 2020
Y2 - 15 June 2020 through 19 June 2020
ER -