Design-Based Information Technologies Learning Experiences: Year 1 Results

• In Event: Finding the Hook: Engaging Teachers and Students in Computer Science

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of the DITLE project include: 1) increasing secondary students’ interest in, awareness of, and preparation for ICT career opportunities; and 2) preparing a cadre of STEM educators to integrate ICT skills, processes, and career information into their instruction.

Theoretical Frameworks: The research is guided by Social Cognitive Theoretical perspectives, including Self-Determination Theory and Expectancy-Value Theory. In this research we dedicate particular attention to assessing high school students’ and preservice teachers’ psychosocial characteristics (including their attitudes towards ICT, self-determination, their self-efficacy for completing the workshop, their perceived values for participating in the workshop, and self-concept to name a few), along with their engagement in the summer workshop and performance on measures of ICT knowledge.

Methods: This mixed methods study consisted of interviews and surveys with students and preservice teachers. A total of 38 high school students (12 females, 22 males, 4 not reporting gender) from 6 different high schools participated in our first summer workshop along with 9 preservice teachers. Among the student participants, 42% identified as Black/African American, 8% Asian/Pacific Islander, 26% Caucasian, and all remaining individuals indicating “other” or not reporting their ethnicity.

Materials: Pretests and posttests of ICT knowledge were constructed using existing test bank items for a college-level Fundamentals of IT course. Measures to assess participants’ career aspirations and attitudes toward ICT were derived from Ardies, Maeyer, and Gijbels (2013) and Duran et al. (2014). Achievement motivation was assessed using measures of Expectancy-Value (derived from Conley, 2012; Duncan & McKeachie, 2005; and Andersen, 2014) and Self-Determination (Van den Broeck et al., 2010). Additional survey measures included subscales from Archambault et al. (2009) for behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement; Fleming’s (2007) Personal and Academic Self-Concept Inventory; and persistence items from the Short Grit Scale (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009) and Motivation and Engagement Scale (Martin, 2006). Interview protocols were generated in order to garner open-ended responses from participants concerning their perceived supports and barriers to learning ICT.

Results: A number of the motivational and affective variables measured are significantly correlated with the high school students’ posttest for ICT knowledge including attainment-value (identifying oneself as a ‘technology’ person), ICT career aspirations, interest in ICT, math-ability self-concept, cognitive engagement for technology, and relatedness. High school males and females did not statistically differ in their performance on the posttest for ICT knowledge. Attitudes and interest in ICT were consistently rated favorably throughout the summer workshop.

Significance: In its first year of implementation, the DITLE summer workshop appears to have increased high school student participants’ knowledge base in ICT. Curriculum-wise, the DITLE project team successfully developed and implemented ICT learning challenges for secondary students with diverse backgrounds. Students engaged in challenging ICT activities, researched real ICT applications, designed solutions, and presented the information in ways that demonstrated collaborative group work. Improvements to the workshop are in the works for future summers in order to expand the potential pool of participants; and work towards preparing college and career-ready secondary graduates for ICT.

Authors

• Marcus Lee Johnson, University of Cincinnati

• Helen Meyer, University of Cincinnati

• Chengcheng Li, University of Cincinnati

• Hazem Said, University of Cincinnati

• Rebekah Michael, University of Cincinnati