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Assessing Children's Understanding of the Work of Computer Scientists: The Draw-a-Computer-Scientist Test

Authors:

Alexandria K. Hansen,

Hilary A. Dwyer,

Ashley Iveland,

Danielle B. Harlow,

Diana FranklinAuthors Info & Claims

SIGCSE '17: Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

Pages 279 - 284

https://doi.org/10.1145/3017680.3017769

Published: 08 March 2017 Publication History

Abstract

We developed the Draw-A-Computer-Scientist-Test (DACST) to better understand elementary school students' conceptions of computer scientists and the nature of their work. By understanding how young children perceive computer scientists, we can broaden their ideas about the activities and images of computer scientists. We administered the DACST to 87 fourth-grade students (ages 8-9) as a pre- and post-assessment to a computer science curriculum. All students attended the same school and were taught by the same female teacher. Before the curriculum, we found that students most often drew male computer scientists working alone, and featured actions that were connected to technology in general (e.g., typing, printing), but not specific to computer science. After the curriculum, more female students drew female computer scientists than before, and the featured actions were more specific to computer science (e.g., programming a game). We also share insights about the classroom-learning environment that may have contributed to changes in students' understanding of computer scientists and their work.

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Cited By

Irunokhai EAdigun JOnihunwa JAdeniji OWealth SDada OSada Y(2024)INVESTIGATION OF GENDER-BASED INTEREST IN COMPUTER PROGRAMMING ENGAGEMENTS AMONG STUDENTS OF FEDERAL COLLEGE OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT, NEW BUSSAFUDMA JOURNAL OF SCIENCES10.33003/fjs-2024-0804-26268:4(276-282)Online publication date: 27-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.33003/fjs-2024-0804-2626
de Wit SHermans FSpecht MAivaloglou EStephenson BStone JBattestilli LRebelsky SShoop L(2024)Gender, Social Interactions and Interests of Characters Illustrated in Scratch and Python Programming Books for ChildrenProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3626252.3630862(262-268)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3626252.3630862
Ashlock JTufekci Z(2024)Gender differences in computing interest: the role of social constructs in early pathsComputer Science Education10.1080/08993408.2024.2433354(1-33)Online publication date: 10-Dec-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/08993408.2024.2433354
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Index Terms

Assessing Children's Understanding of the Work of Computer Scientists: The Draw-a-Computer-Scientist Test
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. K-12 education
      2. Student assessment

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cover image ACM Conferences

SIGCSE '17: Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

March 2017

838 pages

ISBN:9781450346986

DOI:10.1145/3017680

General Chairs:
Michael E. Caspersen
Aarhus University
,
Stephen H. Edwards
Virginia Tech
,
Program Chairs:
Tiffany Barnes
North Carolina State University
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Daniel D. Garcia
University of California, Berkeley

Copyright © 2017 ACM.

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Published: 08 March 2017

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SIGCSE '17: The 48th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education

March 8 - 11, 2017

Washington, Seattle, USA

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SIGCSE '17 Paper Acceptance Rate 105 of 348 submissions, 30%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 1,595 of 4,542 submissions, 35%

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Cited By

Irunokhai EAdigun JOnihunwa JAdeniji OWealth SDada OSada Y(2024)INVESTIGATION OF GENDER-BASED INTEREST IN COMPUTER PROGRAMMING ENGAGEMENTS AMONG STUDENTS OF FEDERAL COLLEGE OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT, NEW BUSSAFUDMA JOURNAL OF SCIENCES10.33003/fjs-2024-0804-26268:4(276-282)Online publication date: 27-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.33003/fjs-2024-0804-2626
de Wit SHermans FSpecht MAivaloglou EStephenson BStone JBattestilli LRebelsky SShoop L(2024)Gender, Social Interactions and Interests of Characters Illustrated in Scratch and Python Programming Books for ChildrenProceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3626252.3630862(262-268)Online publication date: 7-Mar-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3626252.3630862
Ashlock JTufekci Z(2024)Gender differences in computing interest: the role of social constructs in early pathsComputer Science Education10.1080/08993408.2024.2433354(1-33)Online publication date: 10-Dec-2024
https://doi.org/10.1080/08993408.2024.2433354
Buckley JGumaelius LNyangweso MHyland TSeery NPears A(2023)The impact of country of schooling and gender on secondary school students’ conceptions of and interest in becoming an engineer in Ireland, Kenya and SwedenInternational Journal of STEM Education10.1186/s40594-023-00416-910:1Online publication date: 13-Apr-2023
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-023-00416-9
Varoy ELee KLuxton-Reilly AGiacaman NDoyle MStephenson BDorn BSoh LBattestilli L(2023)Draw a Computing StudentProceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3545945.3569795(903-909)Online publication date: 2-Mar-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3545945.3569795
Cutrupi CZanardi IJaccheri LLandoni MHoda RSerebrenik A(2023)Draw a Software Engineer Test - An Investigation into Children's Perceptions of Software Engineering ProfessionProceedings of the 45th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Society10.1109/ICSE-SEIS58686.2023.00010(37-47)Online publication date: 17-May-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/ICSE-SEIS58686.2023.00010
Shin MHagiwara SHerbert KAnu VGoldstein RSultana K(2023)Drawing a Computer Scientst: Assessing the Images of the Computer Scientist Among K-8 Teachers2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343383(1-6)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343383
Hinterplattner S(2023)Students’ Perceptions of Computer Science and the Role of GenderComputer Supported Education10.1007/978-3-031-40501-3_6(125-148)Online publication date: 7-Aug-2023
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40501-3_6
Parker MHendrickson K(2022)Capacity-related factors associated with computer science access and participation in Georgia public high schoolsPolicy Futures in Education10.1177/14782103221081920Online publication date: 14-Apr-2022
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Vrieler TSalminen-Karlsson M(2022)A Sociocultural Perspective on Computer Science Capital and Its Pedagogical Implications in Computer Science EducationACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/348705222:4(1-23)Online publication date: 15-Sep-2022
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