Students' experiences and attitudes towards learning computer science

Abstract

Low enrollment and high drop-out rates in computer science (CS) have led to an alarming decrease in number of graduates in western countries. What are students' learning experiences, how do these affect their attitudes towards learning CS? This question was explored by investigating diverse students, of a broad study program with courses in humanities and technology, at the end of an introductory course in CS (CS1), which has been designed to enhance students' engagement. The results of a first questionnaire were remarkably positive: All students reflected their experiences as overall positive. Almost half of the students stated, that they had been skeptical towards learning CS before the course. All of these students described positive transformations of attitudes. These results provided an interesting starting point for further research using interviews: What exactly have these students experienced and how do they reason about future engagement? We point out students' experiences that were crucial for a positive transformation of attitudes as well as critical aspects in students' reasoning on future engagement in CS.