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BARBARA T. PIORO NCA&TSU pioro@ncat

Introductory Computer Programming Course: Academic Major and Gender Differences in Performance on Tests Employing Multiple-Choice Questions and Programming Problems. BARBARA T. PIORO NCA&TSU pioro@ncat.edu. THE PRESENTATION ADDRESSES:.

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BARBARA T. PIORO NCA&TSU pioro@ncat

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  1. Introductory Computer Programming Course: Academic Major and Gender Differences in Performance on Tests Employing Multiple-Choice Questions and Programming Problems BARBARA T. PIORONCA&TSUpioro@ncat.edu ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  2. THE PRESENTATION ADDRESSES: • UNDER-REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN COMPUTING SCIENCES, SCIENCE, AND ENGINEERING • RESEARCH ON GENDER ISSUES IN CS, SCIENCE, AND ENGINEERING EDUCATION • STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN COLLEGE-LEVEL INTRODUCTORY COMPUTER PROGRAMMING COURSES • Presents a study that involves: • RESEARCH DATA: TOTAL TEST 3 SCORES, SCORES OBTAINED ON MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS, SCORES OBTAINED ON PROGRAMMING PROBLEMS, AND THE GRADE POITNT AVERAGE (GPA) SCORES • DIFFERENCES IN PERFORMANCE: • MEN VS WOMEN • MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS VS PROGRAMMING PROBLEMS • BETWEEN ACADEMIC MAJORS ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  3. COMPUTER PROGRAMMING Scientists, cognitive scientists, and educators argue that learning computer programming is beneficial because it • Provides a framework for problems solving and creative thinking skills • Develops basis for logical as well as inferential thinking skills • Develops a person’s mathematical basis for understanding science and technology • Promotes formulation of mental models, manipulation of symbols, and procedural thinking • Is ubiquitous and pervasive in both direct and indirect ways in modern world – knowing programming brings wide range of benefits in private as well as professional life ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  4. RESEARCH ON GENDER ISSUES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, SCIENCE, AND ENGINEERING EDUCATION Factors that have negative affects on women’s careers in science, computer science, and engineering: • Women’s attitudes towards computers, programming, and engineering • In computer science, science, and engineering women find the environment unfriendly and unsupportive • From early stages of their lives, men claim the computing territory as their own • Our culture supports the view that computers and engineering are for men • A common belief that women are not interested in “tinkering” and thus do not have “tinkering” experience when they enter science, CS, and engineering fields; a common belief that liking of “tinkering” and “tinkering” experience are essential to creative thinking and high level performance in science, computers science, and engineering • A belief that women’s genetic make-up / brain wiring is not conducive to their interest and / or high performance in mathematics, science, computer science, and engineering • Women tend to score lower than men on self-efficacy scales ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  5. Students participating in this study classified by their academic major, college, or school AGR – School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences AS – College of Arts and Sciences AS-U – College of Arts and Sciences, Undecided Major BE – School of Business and Economics CHE – Chemical Engineering ME – Mechanical Engineering CS – Computer Science NUR – School of Nursing EE – Electrical Engineering TE – School of Technology ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  6. GRADE POINT AVERAGE (GPA) FOR MEN AND WOMEN There is no significant difference between the variability of the GPA scores for men and women There is no significant difference between the means of the GPA scores for men and women ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  7. TOTAL TEST3 SCORES FOR MEN AND WOMEN There is no significant difference in the variability of theTest3 scores for men and women There is no significant difference in the means of the Test3 scores for men and women ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  8. TEST3 SCORES FOR MEN AND WOMEN ON MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS AND PROGRAMMING PROBLEMS For all students, there is a significant difference in performance on the two parts of Test3, at α= 0.05, p = 4.95E-13 For men and women, there is no significant difference in performance on multiple-choice questions; there is no significant difference in performance on programming problems ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  9. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE SCORES OBTAINED ON THE MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS AND PROGRAMMING PROBLEMS, AND THE GRADE POINT AVERAGE (GPA) ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  10. Test3 Scores and the Use of Graphs with Multiple-Choice Questions Difference between the means of scores for the students who used graphs and those who did not: For women : not significant , at α=0.05, p = 0.16 For men: significant, at α=0.05, p = 0.0004 Difference between the means of scores for men and women who used graphs: At α = 0.05, not significant ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  11. Test3 Scores and the Use of Comments in Programming Problem Solutions by Men and Women Difference between the means of scores for the students who used comments and those who did not: For women : significant , at α = 0.05, p = 0.02 For men: significant, at α = 0.05, p = 0.0005 Difference between the means of scores for the men and women who used comments: not significant, at α = 0.05, p = 0.15 ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  12. The use of comments by men and women in different majors ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  13. Multiple-Choice Questions and Programming Problems: Differences in performance between different academic majors Multiple -Choice Questions: No significant difference in performance For BE, CS, EE majors: Programming Problems: CS vs. BE(MIS), the difference between the means is not significant CS vs. EE, at α = 0.05, p = 0.027, the difference is significant ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  14. Multiple-Choice Questions: Differences in performance between men and women in different academic majors Multiple -Choice Questions: • No significant difference in performance between men and women in different academic majors FBE – Females in Business and Economics MBE – Males in Business and Economics FCS – Females in Computer Science MCS – Males in Computer Science FEE – Females in Electrical Engineering MEE – Males in Electrical Engineering ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

  15. Programming Problems: Differences in performance between men and women in different academic majors • Men’s scores vs. women’s scores within different academic majors: • No significant difference in performance • Men’s scores between different academic majors: • No significant difference in performance • Women’s scores between different academic majors: • CS vs. BE, no significant difference in performance • CS vs. EE, at α = 0.05, p = 0.044, the difference in performance is significant • BE vs. EE, at α = 0.05, p = 0.038, the difference in performance is significant FBE – Females in Business and Economics MBE – Males in Business and Economics FCS – Females in Computer Science MCS – Males in Computer Science FEE – Females in Electrical Engineering MEE – Males in Electrical Engineering ICEE 2005 Gliwice, PL

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