Semantic Analyses of Open-Ended Responses From Professional Development Workshop Promoting Computational Thinking in Rural Schools

Abstract

The development of curriculum and access to educational resources related to applied computing is lacking for students in K-12 schools particularly in rural areas, despite the large and growing demand for computing skills in the job market. Motivated by this need, an interdisciplinary professional development workshop was designed to promote computational thinking and curriculum integration among teachers involved in teaching core curricula including writing, math, science, and social studies in grades 3-8 in a rural midwestern state in the USA, as part of a longitudinal grant-funded program. Open-text feedback was collected before, during, and immediately after the workshop in response to multiple types of formative assessments. In this paper, we present several forms of data representation from exploratory textual analyses based on the feedback collected from the workshop participants. Semantic analysis tools including sentiment analysis and thematic analysis facilitated the identification of common themes in perception among grade 3-8 teachers relating to the implementation of computational concepts in their classrooms. Results suggest that these techniques can be useful in evaluating open-ended feedback to represent patterns of response which may aid in the identification of actionable insights related to adult learner perceptions, including interest and self-efficacy.