Surveying middle school computer science throughout the United States: a needs assessment for teachers

Abstract

Middle school computer science plays an important role in increasing student interest and engagement, as well as leveling the playing field for students as they enter high school. Computer science courses or the introduction of CS into other STEM courses is also a valuable opportunity to build higher order thinking and problem-solving skills that will serve students throughout their education. However, the state of middle school computer science (CS) has yet to be studied in depth. Particularly, research is needed to understand the challenges facing a diverse population of middle school CS teachers. With the goal of learning to better support CS teachers, we have performed interviews and surveys amongst teachers throughout the country to illustrate the state of middle school CS and CS teacher self-efficacy. This project fills in this gap by serving as a needs assessment for a difficult to reach population because the track to become a middle school CS teacher is not well-defined, and many of these teachers are new to the role or have taken it on as an additional responsibility.