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Computer Science (CS) is not introduced equitably across K-12 schools, yet it is increasingly a necessary skill regardless of vocational pathway. Co-curricular activities such as summer camps have become a popular way to introduce CS to K-12 students. Researchers at our institution, through partnerships with other educational institutions and practitioners, developed a transdisciplinary approach of teaching CS in K-12 informal learning environments. Building on positive results in the K-12 informal learning environment, researchers are exploring the applicability of the transdisciplinary modules in formal instruction for early college learners in CS0 and CS1 courses. This paper explores self-efficacy data collected from multiple CS0 and CS1 courses. Learners include freshmen in computing majors and in non-computing majors. We compare their self efficacy growth in computing across race and gender, considering their formal or informal CS education experiences prior to entering college. This work is a part of a larger effort to redesign CS0 and CS1 courses to introduce more complex concepts and important design concepts such as parallel and distributed computing earlier in the curriculum. The authors’ longer-term goal is to investigate active learning strategies that will introduce higher level computer science topics early in the curriculum to enable students to recognize content applicability earlier in their college pathway.
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This content will become publicly available on June 10, 2026
Exploring Students’ Perceptions of Contextualized Computing in an Introductory Computing Science Course for Non-majors
Introductory computer science courses for non-majors (CS0) aim to increase diversity and highlight the relevance of computing across disciplines. To enhance the accessibility and engagement of CS0, researchers have explored contextualized computing, where computing is integrated with another subject, to teach course content. While research has explored various designs for contextualized courses, we know less about how contextualized computing tasks impact students’ learning experiences. Through the lens of metacognition and affect, we conducted a secondary qualitative analysis on daily diary and retrospective interview data from 20 students in a CS0 course that applied coding to different contexts. Our findings demonstrate that students’ feeling of knowing and their perception of the task are two central themes that shape their affect and interest in the course. We conclude with design suggestions for contextualized computing in CS0 to better support students.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2016900
- PAR ID:
- 10620797
- Publisher / Repository:
- International Society of the Learning Sciences
- Date Published:
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 592 to 600
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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