Tech Turnoffs: A Meta-Study of Why Students Avoid Computer Science Oriented Programmes

In order to meet the current demand for IT professionals, this paper presents the reform idea of 2C+E (Core professional knowledge, Core professional ability, Engineering environment) training system with the goal of training ideal professionals. The idea needs students to master core professional knowledge, to train core professional ability in the university, and to enhance their capability of engineering practice in the environment of university-enterprise cooperation. We have successfully applied reform measures of training engineering professionals in real situations and demonstrated a training scheme of university-enterprise cooperation. The result of the reform has played a significant role in training engineering professionals of computer major in our university.

The aim of this paper is to investigate, formulate, and analyse the general rules and principles that govern the evolution of key factors that influence the development of decision support systems (DSS) and models. In order to ela borate a model suitable for medium-term forecasts and recommendations, we have defined eight major elements of Information Society that characterise the evolution of the corresponding digital economy. The evolution of the overall system is described by a discrete-continuous-event system, where the mutual impacts of each of the elements are represented within state-space models. Technological trends and external economic decisions form inputs, while feedback loops allow us to model the influence of technological demand on IT, R&D, production, and supply of DSS. The technological characteristics of the product line evolution modelled in this way can provide clues to software providers about future demand. They can also give R&D and educational institutions some idea on the most likely directions of develop¬ment and demand for IT professionals. As an example, we will model the evolution of decision-support systems and recommenders for 3D-internet-based e-commerce, and their impact on technological progress, consumption patterns and social behaviour. The re sults presented here have been obtained during an IS/IT foresight project carried out in Poland since 2010 and financed by the ERDF.KeywordsInformation Society TechnologiesForesightQuantitative Trend AnalysisScenariosDiscrete-Event-SystemsDecision-Support-Systems

Cloud business is the basic support to operations of modern companies. It enables companies to be more agile and innovative. Such form of digital transformation improves business and company productivity and solves business problems in innovative ways. On one hand, Cloud business makes possible for users to get the best expertise possible which they cannot develop independently. On the other hand, it offers possibilities to reduce the costs related to hardware and software to a reasonable level. The time value of money present in Cloud business is also significant. Namely, companies no longer need to invest large sums of money in equipment or software solutions; it is sufficient to rent those and use revenues for future business investments. Cloud solutions mean that users, using modern technology, access their business software solution through a web browser (web application) thus completing their business processes and accessing the database. Expansion of business leads to a new phenomenon – users are no longer tied to a physical location. In this way, users more frequently work from home or on the move by using different mobile devices. We all use a number of applications (Gmail, outlook.com, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc.) and take advantage of the Cloud business without being aware of it. We do not install any of the mentioned applications on our devices but access those using an internet browser. Given the lack of IT experts due to economic migrations, as is the situation here, insufficient supply and enormous demand for IT professionals, the traditional model of using business information systems will become practically unsustainable. In this paper, following introductory and general remarks on Cloud business, an analysis was made of using Cloud business IT systems in RS/BH, Serbia and the EU.

Our nation’s continued global competitiveness is widely believed to depend upon the United States maintaining its leadership in the development and management of new information technologies (Freeman & Aspray, 1999; Malcom, Babco, Teich, Jesse, Campbell, & Bell, 2005; Sargent, 2004). Rapidly changing technologies have pervaded every sector of American society, infusing nearly everyone’s work and personal lives. Over the long term, we may face a shortage of highly educated IT workers who are needed to maintain and increase the economic productivity of the United States. Interestingly, according to Freeman and Aspray, if women were represented in the IT workforce in equal proportion to men (assuming the percentage of men in IT vis-à-vis other professions remained constant), this impending shortage and its potentially economically devastating consequences could be prevented. We identify the pipeline of potential female IT workers as beginning in the middle grades, with the girls who take college-prep algebra by the eighth grade and elect college-bound courses in math, science, and computer science through high school. These girls are then prepared to complete a bachelor of science degree in computer science, computer engineering, or electrical engineering and become creative future IT workers. In this article, we examine some of the factors that, as suggested by the literature, influence the low participation of women in IT. We also discuss the open research issues in understanding and modeling the (educational) persistence of young women in IT-related disciplines, and we outline some results from Girls on Track, an intervention program for middle-school girls. We end with some suggestions for making IT more appealing to this currently underrepresented population.

Aim/Purpose: To investigate the impact of the evolution of Information Technology on global workforce skills and explore emerging approaches that address the IT talent shortage faced by diverse companies in finding skilled IT workers. Background: This paper explores diverse approaches to bridge the skilled IT workers shortage gap, especially in the context of the widening gap following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study emphasizes the need to consistently leverage business and information technology strategies for competitive advantage. Methodology: This study followed the systematic literature review methodology on 809 articles from ACM, IEEE Xplore, and Scopus digital libraries by utilizing an integrative mixed methods approach with topic modeling and manual content analysis. Contribution: This paper aims to understand and describe the impact of the evolution of the IT industry on its workforce. It contributes additional evidence to our understanding of IT workforce development to support researchers and educators working towards developing effective strategies to bridge the IT talent gap. Findings: On the one hand, the study finds that the evolution of the IT industry produces a shift in required skills and knowledge, resulting in workers needing to adapt and embrace lifelong learning. On the other hand, the evolution of IT creates new opportunities for workers and results in a more globalized and interconnected workforce. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners are recommended to adapt to the shifting skills landscape, encourage lifelong learning, explore new opportunities for workers, and embrace a more globalized workforce. Recommendations for Researchers: Researchers are encouraged to further explore the identified themes and delve into the nuances of the evolving impact of information technology on workforce skills. Impact on Society: The findings have implications for industry growth, emphasizing the importance of aligning business and IT strategies to address the shortage of skilled IT workers on a global scale. Future Research: Future research should focus on the continuous evolution of information technology and its impact on workforce skills, considering the identified themes as a foundation for further exploration.

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify how Advanced level Mathematics and Mathematics course units offered at university level do impact on the academic performance of theoretical Computer Science course units. Background: In Sri Lankan state universities, students have been enrolled only from the Physical Science stream to do a degree program in Computer Science. In addition to that, universities have been offering some course units in Mathematics to provide the required mathematical maturity to Computer Science undergraduates. Despite of this it is observed that the failure rates in fundamental theoretical Computer Science course units are much higher than other course units offered in the general degree program every year. Methodology : Academic records comprised of all 459 undergraduates from three consecutive batches admitted to the degree program in Computer Science from a university were considered for this study. Contribution: This study helps academics in identifying suitable curricula for Mathematics course units to improve students’ performance in theoretical Computer Science courses. Findings: Advanced level Mathematics does not have any significant effect on the academic performance of theoretical Computer Science course units. Even though all Mathematics course units offered were significantly correlated with academic performance of every theoretical Computer Science course unit, only the Discrete Mathematics course unit highly impacted on the academic performance of all three theoretical Computer Science course units. Further this study indicates that the academic performance of female undergraduates is better than males in all theoretical Computer Science and Mathematics course units. Future Research: Identifying other critical success factors contributing to the students’ academic performance of the theoretical Computer Science through empirical studies

Introduction The computing sciences are complex fields that combine both theoretical and practical components. Students successfully completing an undergraduate computer science program should have instruction in both the mathematical and theoretical foundations of computing as well as the more practical aspects of how to effectively use computers to solve problems. Software engineering, as its name implies, is more directed toward the practical aspects of how to successfully develop complex systems that meet user requirements and are reliable, usable, and maintainable. Computing Curricula 2005 recognizes the need for more extensive education to produce professional engineers than what can be reasonably provided in a typical computer science program (ACM, 2005). As such, they propose engineering be treated as a totally separate discipline within computer science education. However, while there has been some debate about the exact role engineering should have in a computer science program (Curran, 2003), the ACM Curricula has maintained the importance of engineering to all computer science students and has kept it as a core element in computer science education (ACM, 2008). For purposes of this paper, we will focus on the teaching of engineering within the computer science discipline. Unlike other topics in the computer science major, the techniques and principles taught in engineering are often first developed and refined in industry before arriving in the classroom. As commercial development techniques and tools evolve, so pedagogical methodologies change. Computer science educators have taken different approaches to teaching engineering over the years, both as a result of changing methodologies as well as individual beliefs about what teaching methods work best in a particular academic environment. This paper is a case study in applying current productivity tools (specifically Redmine) in a engineering course at our institution. The objectives of the study are to investigate how to integrate the tools into the existing structure and evaluate their impact. We describe our experience in recently changing our approach to teaching engineering to be more aligned with current tools and how to effectively use them in an academic environment. The paper begins with an overview of engineering teaching methods, then describes our traditional approach and motivation for changing, how the new approach was integrated into the course, our experience with the change, and, finally, our plans for the future Software Engineering Education Background Software Engineering is defined as the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation and maintenance of software (Petkovic, Thompson, & Todtenhoefer, 2006, p. 294). The need to teach engineering in colleges has been identified for decades. Stiller & LeBlanc (2002) point out as far back as the early 1990's, ACM Computing Curricula suggested that the at least one engineering course should be required in accredited computer science programs. They point out that the number of large projects in industry demand this and suggest that the proof of the success of these accredited computer science programs should be seen in the reduction of failure in the design and operation of large computer programs. Software engineering programs can be thought of as a replacement for the old apprenticeship programs which taught the trades to workman (Stroulia, Bauer, Craig, Reid, & Wilson, 2011). The issue, however, is how to bring this effect into the classroom. Many educators feel that current practices of teaching engineering are not adequately preparing students for the real world of development. Nurkkala & Brandle (2011) summarize the problems with current teaching approaches: * No product--students are creating projects, not commercial grade products * Short duration--single semester, or two-semester, courses impose an artificial time constraint * High turnover--new students each semester means the talent pool remains shallow and student skills are not developing based on previous experience * Low complexity--by necessity given time constraints and skill sets * No maintenance--as a result of short duration, students do not experience a key aspect of development, the maintenance phase * No customer--most engineering projects do not interface with a real customer To address these shortcomings, different approaches to teaching engineering have emerged and been proposed in the literature. …

This study investigated the quality of undergraduate computing curricula at Kenyan universities, how they compare locally and regionally with equivalent programs and how closely they meet the ICT sector needs. It was guided by four objectives i.e. to undertake an ontological mapping of computing curricula, to identify appropriate benchmarking criteria, to develop and test a benchmarking tool, and to investigate the alignment of these curricula to computing skills requirement. The study was deemed important by the plethora of academic computing programs of varying degrees of utility and credibility, which are a product of the escalating demand for computing education in Kenya given the development of Vision 2030 and the rapid growth of the ICT industry. To achieve its objectives, the study adopted a quantitative and qualitative cross-sectional descriptive survey of computing curricula offered locally (in Kenya) and regionally (from best practicing countries, USA and India). A sample of 70.3% was drawn from the target population for ontological mapping. Two research instruments, i.e. a questionnaire and a document analysis framework that were administered to a cross-section of 11 public/private universities. The study established that there are 24 undergraduate computing programs under 6 titles, viz. BSc., BCom., BTech., BB., BEd. and BEng. The two most populous programs are BSc. Computer Science (CS) and BSc. Information Technology (IT), which were selected to help identify two benchmarking criteria: Percent weight allocation of core hours within ACM knowledge areas and Relative performance capabilities of computing graduates. Using these criteria a benchmarking tool was developed and tested, which depicted disparities among the respondents in the percent weight allocation of core hours in CS programs. Similarly, it portrayed overlaps in the relative performance capabilities of CS and IT graduates, an outcome that queried the uniqueness of these programs. As such, its results indicate that the quality of the two computing programs is relatively insufficient. However, it further establishes that the computing curricula are aligned to meet the top 3 highly demanded computing skills i.e. Networking, Software development and Internet skills albeit insufficient percent weight allocation of core hours in Software development. It therefore recommends further testing and refining of the established benchmarking tool, the need to re-focus the computing programs and supports the call to institute a regulatory body and qualifications framework for computing education and skills.Â

Lifelong learning is an important part in the career of an engineer in computer sciences. In this paper the characteristics of life long learning in Computer Sciences are worked out. In 2007 the European Commission launched a lifelong learning programme to enables people at all stages of their lives to take part in stimulating learning experiences. A network of seven European universities started within this programme a project designing a Master program in Computer Science that appeals to non-traditional students who may wish to study on a part-time and/or intermittent basis, in an international framework. (EMaCS means European Master Program in Computer Science) This paper describes how the EMaCS project approaches to the life long learning problems in Computer Science.

Gender disparity in STEM fields, particularly in computer science (CS), remains a global challenge due to the underrepresentation of women. Factors such as educational background and pre-university choices could influence this disparity. Gender bias and stereotypes, starting in childhood, could significantly deter female enrollment in CS programs. This study explores the educational experiences and reasons behind gender disparities in the Bachelor’s degree program in Computer Science at the University of Padova, aiming to promote gender equality in academia and the Information and Communication Technology industry. Data were collected from 167 students, revealing gender differences in secondary education and motivations for pursuing CS. Gender disparities were noted in perceived difficulties in facing different courses, from programming to numerical calculus, and in perceptions of bias, with females more likely to perceive women as disadvantaged, and the stereotype of “CS is for men” being more prevalent among older generations. Both genders expressed moderate optimism about increasing female representation in CS and suggested solutions such as school interventions, practical initiatives, curriculum integration, scholarships, and female quotas.

Providing stimulating and real-life experiences is a key component in teaching software project management in Computer Science or Software Engineering programs. The diversity of topics that need to be addressed and restrictions that should be considered in university courses make a challenging task of it. This paper presents a serious game, called “White Crow PM” whose objective is to make students aware of the risks they might face during software development projects. The paper describes the game design steps and provides results of its validation in Computer Science programs in two Mexican universities. The collected data showed that the participants had fun playing the game and its content is relevant for software project management courses. Although the game needs to be validated in other settings with more participants, we conclude that it fulfills the goal of motivating discussion and increasing awareness of project management concerns among students.

As a female computer science educator, I've watched with growing alarm the drop in enrollment in our Computer Science programs from a ratio of 1:1 of males and females in 1983, to a current ratio of 5:1. The lack of interest of female students in Computer Science is still a very serious problem. As educators we should all be watching our own campus and addressing this problem. The panelists assembled from various institutions will address the issues of gender imbalance and relate their experiences in implementing solutions to counter this problem. Two of the panelist will discuss utilization of the World Wide Web addressing reasons for creating both Web sites. As long as this gender imbalance exists in our schools we need to continue our dialog to share and develop new ideas to encourage female participation in Computer Science Programs. The audience will be welcomed to participate in a larger group discussion.

This study investigated whether student academic achievement in college computer science programs in Taiwan could be predicted by factors reported to be effective in U.S. studies. Subjects were 940 college students enrolled in five universities offering computer science programs. A correlation study was conducted and prediction models were established. The predictive powers of college entrance examination (CEE) scores in relation to subsequent college performance appeared to be limited. Overall high school achievement and math course averages were identified as effective performance predictors. The close relationship between performance in introductory computer science courses and performance in complete computer science programs was validated. Significant linear prediction models with limited predictive powers were generated for overall performance but not for introductory computer science course performance. Model predictive powers were significantly improved when performance in introductory computer science courses was included in the models. No significant gender differences were found for CEE performance. However, female subjects outperformed male counterparts in course performance at both the high school and college levels.

Background Despite ongoing calls for prioritizing K-12 computer science (CS) education, an enduring gender gap exists. Objective We explored one high school CS program where female participation was consistently higher than state averages to better understand how the program was developed. Method Using a case study method, data were collected over three-months through interviews, observations, course documents, student reflections, and researcher reflections. Constant comparative analysis was employed to analyze data throughout and following data generation. Findings Recruitment and teacher support were key practices. Recruitment practices included letter writing campaigns and recruiting from introductory CS courses. Teacher support came from counselors, administrators, and other teachers. While the CS program was consistently more gender-inclusive, the focus when building the program had been on supporting all students, not only female students. Implications Recruitment should be active and purposeful, but using academic indicators for targeted recruitment campaigns can limit student exposure. Teachers need support for broadening participation, particularly from counselors and administrators, who must also be aware of what CS is and their role in these efforts. Opportunities for coteaching within CS programs can be beneficial for growth. Overall, broadening participation must be a holistic effort, supported by school-wide stakeholders, not only CS teachers.

The Department of Computer Science at the University of Southern California recently created two new degree programs, namely a Bachelor's Program in Computer Science (Games) and a Master's Program in Computer Science (Game Development). In this paper, we discuss two projects that use games as motivator. First, the Computer Games in the Classroom Project develops stand-alone projects on standard artificial intelligence topics that use video-game technology to motivate the students but do not require the students to use game engines. Second, the Pinball Project develops the necessary hardware and software to enable students to learn concepts from robotics by developing games on actual pinball machines.