scholarly journals Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles: Searching for Equity in a Two-Tiered Solution to Underrepresentation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith E. Howard ◽  
Douglas D. Havard
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Advanced Placement ◽  
Pass Rates ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
Computer Science Courses ◽  
Stem Major ◽  
And Performance

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between students’ participation in the two high school AP computer science exam options and their selected fields of study once they enter post-secondary education. Two studies using national public-use datasets of participation and performance were conducted. Study 1 compared score distributions for the traditional Computer Science A exam to those of the newer Computer Science Principles exam during its first two years of implementation. In Study 1, Chi-square analyses indicated large differences in performance between the two exams, with the Computer Science Principles scores clustering more around marginal pass rates. Descriptive data indicate that African American, Latino, and female students participated in larger proportions on the new exam, whereas traditionally overrepresented groups are continuing to opt more for the traditional Computer Science A course. In Study 2, logistic regression analyses were conducted on the 2016 second follow-up data collection of the High School Longitudinal Study 2009 (HSLS:09). Those analyses revealed that 11th Grade enrollment in computer science courses that concentrate on computer programming significantly predicted selection of a STEM major as the first declared major after high school. Although students who enrolled in Computer Science A were five times as likely to declare a STEM major, a comparison of the curricula and assessments for the two courses suggests that the Computer Science Principles exam places far less emphasis on programming. The potential implications of the differential foci and emphases of the two courses are discussed.

scholarly journals Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles: Searching for Equity in a Two-Tiered Solution to Underrepresentation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Howard
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Advanced Placement ◽  
Pass Rates ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
Computer Science Courses ◽  
Stem Major ◽  
And Performance

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between students’ participation in the two high school AP computer science exam options and their selected fields of study once they enter post-secondary education. Two studies using national public-use datasets of participation and performance were conducted. Study 1 compared score distributions for the traditional Computer Science A exam to those of the newer Computer Science Principles exam during its first two years of implementation. In Study 1, Chi-square analyses indicated large differences in performance between the two exams, with the Computer Science Principles scores clustering more around marginal pass rates. Descriptive data indicate that African American, Latino, and female students participated in larger proportions on the new exam, whereas traditionally overrepresented groups are continuing to opt more for the traditional Computer Science A course. In Study 2, logistic regression analyses were conducted on the 2016 second follow-up data collection of the High School Longitudinal Study 2009 (HSLS:09). Those analyses revealed that 11th Grade enrollment in computer science courses that concentrate on computer programming significantly predicted selection of a STEM major as the first declared major after high school. Although students who enrolled in Computer Science A were five times as likely to declare a STEM major, a comparison of the curricula and assessments for the two courses suggests that the Computer Science Principles exam places far less emphasis on programming. The potential implications of the differential foci and emphases of the two courses are discussed.

Female Enrolment in High School Computer Science Courses

2021 ◽  
pp. 31-43
Author(s):  
Steven Paul Floyd
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Computer Science ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Computer Education ◽  
Equal Access ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
Computer Science Courses ◽  
Women And Girls ◽  
School Computer ◽  
Grade 11

Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher's book Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing presented computer education as a clubhouse for boys that was resulting in women and girls being left out of the computer science (CS) loop. This research reveals that now, almost 20 years later, a number of doors, walls, and windows still inhibit certain students from equal access and participation to the computing clubhouse and provides data from Ontario, Canada indicating that females make up only 26%, 21%, and 15.7% of student enrolled in the Grade 10, Grade 11, and Grade 12 high school courses, respectively. Considering the number of initiatives and money related to expanding CS education, including a revision of high school CS curriculum in Ontario and $60 million of additional CanCodes money provided by the federal government, a better understanding of the underrepresentation of females in high school CS is critical.

Computational and Mathematical Thinking

2020 ◽  
pp. 221-231
Author(s):  
Stephen K. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Computer Science ◽  
Advanced Placement ◽  
Mathematical Thinking ◽  
Computational Thinking ◽  
Science Courses ◽  
Computer Science Courses ◽  
The World ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Impact

Computational thinking is a way of solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior that draws on concepts fundamental to computer science. The advanced placement course, AP Computer Science Principles, introduces students to basic concepts and challenges them to explore how computing and technology impact the world. Computational thinking across the K–12 curriculum compliments, rather than competes with, efforts to expand computer science education. Computer science courses include algorithmic thinking, logic, abstraction, decomposition, and debugging. Computational and mathematical thinking have much in common. The book In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations that Changed the World is an excellent introduction to mathematical thinking by describing the impact of equations.

College Comes to High School: Participation and Performance in Tennessee’s Innovative Wave of Dual-Credit Courses

2021 ◽  
pp. 016237372110523
Author(s):  
Steven W. Hemelt ◽  
Tom Swiderski
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Advanced Placement ◽  
Dual Credit ◽  
School Level ◽  
College Level ◽  
Pass Rates ◽  
College Credit ◽  
Student Demand ◽  
And Performance ◽  
End Of Course Exams

We analyze the rollout of a Statewide Dual-Credit (SDC) program intended to expand access to college-level courses during high school. We find that SDC increased early postsecondary course-taking among students in the middle of the achievement distribution, especially through courses in vocational subjects, without decreasing participation in Advanced Placement (AP). However, SDC was mostly offered by schools already providing courses in similar subject areas and was less frequently offered in small relative to large schools, thus doing little to ameliorate placed-based gaps in course-taking opportunities. Furthermore, a majority of students failed the end-of-course exams necessary to secure college credit, and those who passed closely resemble students who pass AP exams. Low SDC exam pass rates predict school-level discontinuation of SDC courses over and above a range of other factors that reflect student demand and staffing capacity.

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