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Short and Sharp: Challenging Girls to Become Programmers Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

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Page 1: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Short and Sharp: Challenging Girls to Become Programmers

Alison HunterManukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Raewyn BoersenEastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Page 2: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Where is New Zealand?Population 4.5 million, nearest large neighbour Australia, 3 hours flying away, area about same as UK.

Page 3: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Background 1: NZ Women Programming Professionals

Page 4: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Background 2: NZ Women Programming Students (1 x university)

Page 5: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

First one 1989, introduced programming to 16-18 year old girls, ran 11 years, champion retired (COBOL)

Redesigned and refocused in 2008 by some of the same initiators

Now 13 x NZ sites, 12 x international sites Expanding organically by those who are passionate

about girls and programming www.pc4g.org.nz or [email protected]

Programming Challenge 4 Girls (PC4G)One NZ initiative to address imbalance

Page 6: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Name of

event Judging

Publicity

Format

Rewards

Timing

Targets 14 year old

girls (year 10)

Industry involvement

Organisation structure

Host sites

Teaching materials

Programming language

PC4G Carefully Designed

Page 7: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

5 years of High school, (years 9-13) ages 13-18 Two types - single-sex & co-educational Majority public i.e. government run, minority privately

owned New Digital Technology curriculum for examination

years (Years 11, 12 & 13) with five IT strands Low uptake◦ 55 x Programming & Computer Science (P&CS)◦ 507 x Mathematics

Girls studying P&CS strand relatively low (23%, 24% and 31% respectively)

Majority of schools use criterion-based assessments

NZ Educational Environment

Page 8: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

What evidence is there that participation in the PC4G encourages girls to consider a career in programming?

Sub-questions:• How did the girls’ respond emotionally to the Challenge; was

it an encouraging experience?• What were the girls’ perceptions of gender capabilities and

stereotyping?• How effectively did the Challenge increase the girls’

understanding of programming?

Research Questions

Page 9: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Small pilot study Written survey to collect quantitative and some

qualitative data – six sections Ethical implications substantial due to age of girls Participants◦ 12 of 13 schools◦ 23 of 40 girls

Response rate of 58% (incentivised)

Methodology

Page 10: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Quantitative data◦ Frequency distributions of responses in percentage format◦ Easiest for reading

Demographics of the 23 participants◦ 22 use a computer at home◦ 22 own their own device◦ 20 had programmed before

Findings from 3 of the 6 sections presented in 4 tables

Analysis

Page 11: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

Table 1: Effectiveness of PC4G Strongly

DisagreeDisagree Agree Strongly

Agree

The PC4G has made me more interested in programming 0% 17% 39% 43%

The PC4G helped me learn about programming 0% 0% 48% 52%

I will now look for opportunities to find out more about programming 0% 9% 61% 30%

I would like to do the PC4G again 0% 0% 33% 67%

What evidence is there that participation in the PC4G encourages girls to consider a career in programming?

Page 12: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

How did the girls’ respond emotionally to the Challenge, was it an encouraging experience?

Table 2: Emotional Responses

Strongly Disagree

Disagree Agree Strongly Agree

The PC4G was a fun way to learn programming 0% 0% 43% 57%

I was nervous before I started the PC4G 0% 26% 48% 26%

Taking part in the PC4G was challenging but enjoyable 0% 0% 52% 48%

I was proud of what I achieved in the PC4G 4% 0% 43% 52%

Page 13: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

What were the girls’ perceptions of gender capabilities and stereotyping?

Table 3: Gender Capabilities and Stereotyping Strongly

DisagreeDisagree Agree Strongly

Agree

It was good that there were no boys competing in the PC4G 0% 27% 27% 45%

If boys had been included in the PC4G then most likely a boys’ team would have won

17% 65% 0% 17%

I will be considered a geek now that I have competed in the PC4G

32% 50% 5% 14%

I don’t mind if people think I’m a geek 0% 4% 35% 61%

Page 14: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

How effectively did the Challenge increase the girls’ understanding of programming?

Table 4: Increased Understanding of Programming

Strongly Disagree

Disagree Agree Strongly Agree

I enjoyed the problem solving part of programming most 0% 13% 48% 39%

I enjoyed the coding part of programming most 0% 32% 45% 23%

I liked being able to test immediately if our code worked 0% 4% 48% 48%

I realised that I needed to be very logical and pay attention to detail

0% 9% 39% 52%

Page 15: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

A positive experience PC4G increased the girls’ understanding of programming Stereotypical views although persisting, are minimal, little

negative impact ◦ Majority believe that they would be as capable at programming as boys◦ Being labelled a geek ok

Girls able to rate their preference for three of programming’s component tasks

Fun + a sense of achievement + wish to repeat = evidence PC4G encourages girls to consider a career in programming

Conclusions

Page 16: Alison Hunter Manukau Institute of Technology, New Zealand Raewyn Boersen Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand

The pilot will be refined and areas of limitations addressed

The research is to be extended to more sites and in more countries

A longitudinal study may also be undertaken to see how the girls’ interest in programming is either nurtured and developed or wanes

Future Research