Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an increasingly critical component of not only the computing workforce but also society. It is essential for a diverse group of young people to contribute to this field. However, even within computing, AI is not taught to all post-secondary students. Students often must self-select into AI courses, meaning their reasons for choosing AI may be based on preconceptions of the discipline that may or may not be accurate. We extend the work of a small-n interview study of primarily Asian/Asian American undergraduate students, many of whom expressed perceptions of AI that paralleled identified computing stereotypes. Many of these stereotypes have the potential to discourage undergraduate computing students to take classes or specialize in AI, particularly those from underrepresented groups. Here we present a larger scale validation of those findings in the form of survey data conducted at a large public research institution in the USA. The survey largely confirmed the findings of the interview study at a larger scale, and we also found that gender did not significantly influence the results. Finally, we discuss strategies for AI integration into non-AI computing courses based on those previously used in responsible computing contexts, the goal being to counter harmful preconceptions before students specialize into computing subareas.
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This content will become publicly available on March 7, 2025
How do Computing Students Conceptualize Cybersecurity? Survey Results and Strategies for Curricular Integration
Cybersecurity expertise continues to be relevant as a means to confront threats and maintain vital infrastructure in our increasingly digitized world. Public and private initiatives have prioritized building a robust and qualified cybersecurity workforce, requiring student buy-in. However, cybersecurity education typically remains siloed even within computer and information technology (CIT) curriculum. This paper's goal is to support endeavors and strategies of outreach to encourage interest in cybersecurity. To this end, we conducted a survey of 126 CIT students to investigate student perceptions of cybersecurity and its major crosscutting concepts (CCs). The survey also investigates the prevalence of preconceptions of cybersecurity that may encourage or dissuade participation of people from groups underrepresented in computing. Regardless of prior learning, we found that students perceive cybersecurity as a relatively important topic in CIT. We found student perspectives on conceptual foundations of cybersecurity were significantly different (p < .05) than when simply asked about "cybersecurity," indicating many students don't have an accurate internal construct of the field. Several previously studied preconceptions of cybersecurity were reported by participants, with one misconception - that cybersecurity "requires advanced math skills" - significantly more prevalent in women than men (p < .05). Based on our findings, we recommend promoting cybersecurity among post-secondary students by incorporating elements of cybersecurity into non-cybersecurity CIT courses, informed by pedagogical strategies previously used for other topics in responsible computing.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2115028
- PAR ID:
- 10531874
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- ISBN:
- 9798400704239
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 234-240
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Portland OR USA
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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