A worldwide, web-based study of the attitudes of college freshmen toward computing

Abstract

We propose to initiate a worldwide survey of colleges and universities to re-evaluate attitudes of students toward computing courses. In 1985, a study of college freshmen was conducted to determine their attitudes toward introductory computer science courses [10]. At that time, access to and experience with computers was not the norm for the typical student about to enter the university. The 1985 study found that females, as well as students with no computer experience, reported the most negative encounters with computing. We intend to expand the original study, delving into whether or not the programming language learned, compiler and operating system used, peer and parental attitudes, as well as other factors, influence a student's attitude toward computing. We are particularly interested in examining these attitudes from the standpoint of women and minorities, those who are still least likely to have prior, in-depth computer experience. Additionally, with the ease of communication due to email and the internet, we believe it is of interest to computing educators worldwide to participate in such a study. We will provide a survey instrument, a set of World Wide Web tools, and a database. Faculty and their classes from around the world will be encouraged to participate. Each institution will be able to immediately compare the profile of their students with those of other schools. We will provide search capabilities on several key fields in order to facilitate participant data analysis. We foresee the results of our survey generating a dialogue among educators and possibly changing the direction of and/or way in which computer science is taught.