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Effective and equitable CS teaching in classrooms is contingent on teachers' high-levels of self-efficacy in CS as well as a robust understanding of equity issues in CS classrooms. To this end, our study examined the influence of a professional development (PD) course, Teaching Exploring Computer Science (TECS), on promoting teacher self-efficacy and equity awareness in CS education. This nine-week PD was offered in a hybrid format, delivering on-line and face-to-face classes to high school teachers across various disciplines who served under-represented students. The participants completed a selfefficacy survey focusing on their ability to teach ECS, both before and after the course. Results showed that teachers' selfefficacy in the content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge of ECS significantly increased as a result of taking the course. We also evaluated teacher's understanding of the equity issues by conducting a content analysis of their reflection essays written at the end of the course. Four major themes emerged from the content analysis, highlighting the impact of equitable practices on CS participation. This research demonstrates the role of a professional development course in promoting teachers' self-efficacy beliefs in teaching CS and their understanding of the equity issues and presents tools for assessing teachers' development in these areas.
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Teachers’ Engagement and Self-Efficacy in a PK–12 Computer Science Teacher Virtual Community of Practice
Prekindergarten to 12th-grade teachers of computer science (CS) face many challenges, including isolation, limited CS professional development resources, and low levels of CS teaching self-efficacy that could be mitigated through communities of practice (CoPs). This study used survey data from 420 PK–12 CS teacher members of a virtual CoP, CS for All Teachers, to examine the needs of these teachers and how CS teaching self-efficacy, community engagement, and sharing behaviors vary by teachers’ instructional experiences and school levels taught. Results show that CS teachers primarily join the CoP to gain high-quality pedagogical, assessment, and instructional resources. The study also found that teachers with more CS teaching experience have higher levels of self-efficacy and are more likely to share resources than teachers with less CS teaching experience. Moreover, teachers who instruct students at higher grade levels (middle and high school) have higher levels of CS teaching self-efficacy than do teachers who instruct lower grade levels (elementary school). These results suggest that CoPs can help CS teachers expand their professional networks, gain more professional development resources, and increase CS teaching self-efficacy by creating personalized experiences that consider teaching experience and grade levels taught when guiding teachers to relevant content. This study lays the foundation for future explorations of how CS education–focused CoPs could support the expansion of CS education in PK–12 schools.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1836310
- PAR ID:
- 10298873
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Computer Science Integration
- ISSN:
- 2574-108X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.26716/jcsi.2021.10.8.34
