wProjects: Data-centric web development for female nonprogrammers

Abstract

We evaluated the impacts of hands-on web development workshops organized for female undergraduates who had no programming background. In five groups ranging from 2-8 participants, the women used a special-purpose tool (wProjects) to edit database tables, build queries, and embed the queries in web pages. We gathered background information on a pre-test and assessed knowledge and perceptions in a post-test. In general, the students were successful, enjoyed the projects, and their attitudes about computer-related careers were enhanced. We discuss the potential for workshops such as these in light of the general problem of decreasing females in computer-related professions.