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In recent years, computer science courses have been added to high schools across the country, and the trend is for the subject to become ubiquitous. A new study of Maryland’s unusually rich dataset shows the potential for such efforts to have a major impact in getting more students into coding and bringing more diversity to the field. It turns out that there is.
The study, published this month in a research paper, found that taking a high-quality computer science course in high school increases the likelihood that a student majors in computer science in college by 10 percentage points; will complete the CS degree program.
“In some ways, it’s not surprising,” said Jing Liu, the study’s lead researcher. “But we need numbers to make it concrete.”
Liu, an assistant professor of education policy at the University of Maryland, College Park, speculates that some students may be able to overcome common misconceptions about coding by taking computer science classes.
“It’s like math anxiety. They think they can’t do it,” the professor says of some students. And he knows that feeling firsthand. “I took his first CS course in graduate school, and up until then I completely thought he wasn’t a CS person,” he says. “You can overcome fear just by exposing people to the actual curriculum.”
The study found that taking computer science courses had the greatest impact on female students, black students, and students from low socio-economic backgrounds. Liu sees this as evidence that her increase in CS subjects in high schools is helping address well-known disparities in the tech industry. “We need more women, and we need more students of color in coding,” he says. “We are far from achieving equity in this area.”
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An estimated 57% of U.S. high schools offer introductory computer science courses, according to an analysis last year by the nonprofit Code.org. Maryland recently passed a statewide mandate that all high schools offer at least one high-quality computer science course, but much of the data analyzed in the study was from before that law took effect. It covers the period.
Cameron Lee Conrad, a doctoral student at the University of Maryland who also worked on the study, said offering the course is an important first step, but this study aims to reach a broader range of students. They point out that it is important to encourage students to actually take CS courses. “Students who do exactly what you would expect – students with higher math test scores, students who are male, students who are white – are more likely to take the test,” he says. This trend is also confirmed nationwide. Schools therefore need to do more to increase widespread participation in the courses they start offering, he added. “Increasing preparation is critical,” he argues, adding that strengthening basic mathematics education in K-12 schools can prepare more students for computer science courses. I pointed out.
Researchers say that as more schools across the country begin offering CS courses, another challenge is finding qualified teachers.
“There are very few teachers who are qualified to teach CS,” said Liu, noting that while many schools hire math teachers to start teaching computer science, they often require more training. points out that it is necessary. “How can we motivate and reward them?”
Researchers conducted the study in collaboration with the Maryland Center for Computing Education using several linked state datasets, including information from schools, universities, and workforce data. They say their study is the first to provide “causal evidence” that taking the course in high school leads students to further study and work in the field of computer science.
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