The demand for qualified computing professionals is high, with thousands of positions remaining unfilled each year. To create more qualified professionals, initiatives to attract and engage students in computer science have been created, but they tend to concentrate on primary, secondary (K-12) and post-secondary (college) students. With many adults looking for better career opportunities, it is surprising that few computer science initiatives focus on attracting adult learners to the field. This paper presents the results of an informal computer programming course that teaches the foundational concepts of computer programming to adults as they program hip hop beats. This course is designed to attract adult learners that otherwise might have never considered computer programming, building their confidence and skills. We conducted this course online, two nights a week, for five weeks, for about 40 participants. Afterwards, we conducted a qualitative analysis of written survey data. We found that the adult learners’ perception about computer programming changed during the course, with many participants already planning their next step in computing education.
Thu 16 MarDisplayed time zone: Eastern Time (US & Canada) change
15:45 - 17:00 | Online Authors' Corner 2Papers at Online Authors' Corner Opportunity for attendees to connect with authors for interactive Q&A and discussion | ||
15:45 75mPaper | Evolving a Programming CS2 Course: A Decade-Long Experience ReportOnlineGlobal Papers Nasser Giacaman The University of Auckland, Partha Roop University of Auckland, Valerio Terragni University of Auckland DOI | ||
15:45 75mPaper | Case Study: Mapping an E-Voting Based Curriculum to CSEC2017 Papers Muwei Zheng University of California, Davis, Nathan Swearingen Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, Steven Mills Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, Croix Gyurek Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, Matt Bishop The University of California, Davis, Xukai Zou Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis DOI | ||
15:45 75mPaper | Teaching Site Reliability Engineering as a Computer Science ElectiveOnline Papers DOI | ||
15:45 75mPaper | Towards a Validated Self-Efficacy Scale for Data ManagementOnline Papers Wensheng Wu University of Southern California DOI | ||
15:45 75mPaper | A Summer Camp Experience to Engage Middle School Learners in AI through Conversational App DevelopmentK12In-Person Papers Gloria Ashiya Katuka University of Florida, Yvonika Auguste University of Florida, Yukyeong Song University of Florida, Xiaoyi Tian University of Florida, Amit Kumar University of Florida, Mehmet Celepkolu University of Florida, Kristy Elizabeth Boyer University of Florida, Joanne Barrett University of Florida, Maya Israel University of Florida, Tom McKlin The Findings Group DOI | ||
15:45 75mPaper | Attracting Adults to Computer Programming via Hip HopOnline Papers Douglas Lusa Krug Virginia Commonwealth University, Chrystalla Mouza University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, W. Monty Jones Virginia Commonwealth University, Taylor Barnett Virginia Commonwealth University, David C. Shepherd Virginia Commonwealth University DOI | ||
15:45 75mPaper | Assessing Peer Correction of SQL and NoSQL QueriesOnline Papers Wensheng Wu University of Southern California DOI | ||
15:45 75mPaper | Use of an Anti-Pattern in CS2: Sequential if Statements with Exclusive ConditionsOnline Papers Sara Nurollahian University of Utah, Matthew Hooper University of Utah, Adriana Salazar University of Utah, Eliane Wiese University of Utah DOI | ||