High School Computer Science Education: A Five-State Study
Chris Stephenson
University of Waterloo
Abstract | Introduction | Methodology | Results | Conclusions | References | Acknowledgements | Contributor | Appendix A: Survey of Resources for Teaching Computer Programming
Methodology
A one-page survey was designed to provide a composite picture of each school’s computer science program (Appendix A, below). This survey was based on earlier surveys developed at the University of Toronto and field-tested in Ontario high schools. They have been used to collect data on high school computer science education every two years since 1986.
The survey elicited information on the following:
- teaching responsibilities,
- current hardware use,
- plans to purchase more hardware,
- criteria for hardware selection,
- programming languages taught in each grade,
- plans to change programming language,
- criteria for programming language selection,
- current use of support materials, and
- methods of professional development.
In late 1999, the survey was distributed in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Washington. We selected these states because they represent diverse school populations. New Jersey is known to have a strong computer science infrastructure, with a number of magnet schools and close connections between the high schools and colleges and universities. Both California and Massachusetts have mixed school populations (both urban and rural), again with strong connections between the high school and college/university educational facilities. New Hampshire and Washington on the other hand, are smaller states with many rural schools, and we hoped they would provide relevant data concerning the current state of computer science education in less populous states.
The contact information for the survey recipients was collected from mailing lists provided by a reputable data marketing company. The lists included computer science department chairs and computer science teachers from public schools, county schools, state schools, private non-Catholic schools, and Catholic schools.
The number of schools represented in the survey on a state-by state-basis were:
California: 991
Massachusetts: 539
New Hampshire: 135
New Jersey: 606
Washington: 239
The total number of schools surveyed was 2,510. In many cases, the lists contained multiple recipients per school. Because the teacher population tends to be somewhat transient in many states, it was determined that all listed educators would be contacted to ensure the greatest possible return rate. The total number of surveys mailed was 3,069.
Personalized packages were sent to each targeted recipient at their school address. These packages contained an introductory letter, the survey, and a postage-paid return envelope. The introductory letter specifically referenced the target state. Responding educators were informed that they would receive a copy of the results (the primary incentive for participation) by e-mail if they provided an e-mail address.
We collected the responses and tabulated the results using a database format specifically developed to provide numerical results for these survey questions. Results were tabulated on an overall and a state-by-state basis.
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Copyright © 2002, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.
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