What Do You Really Mean by Rigor? Deconstructing the Definition in Computer Science Teaching

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Four
  In Roundtable Session: Teachers' and Educators' Views and Dispositions (Table 10)

Abstract

The word rigor is used often in Computer Science (CS) standards, curriculum recommendations, and research, but it is very rarely defined, and that definition varies. If we are to equitably provide just CS education for all students, we need to understand first how instructors define the word rigor, and second, what they communicate to their students. In this qualitative semi-structured set of interviews (n=30) four themes of instructors' perception of rigor in CS emerged: the amount of work students are required to do, the cognitive challenge to students, the mathematical precision the curriculum requires, and the quality of the code the students are writing. Students reported confusion about the definition of rigor and how to do rigorous work.

Authors

• Jayne Everson, University of Washington
  Presenting Author

• Anne Beitlers, University of Washington
  Presenting Author

• Amy J. Ko, University of Washington
  Non-Presenting Author