TY - GEN
T1 - Future-oriented motivation and retention in computer science
AU - Peteranetz, Markeya S.
AU - Flanigan, Abraham E.
AU - Shell, Duane F.
AU - Soh, Leen Kiat
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Association for Computing Machinery.
PY - 2018/2/21
Y1 - 2018/2/21
N2 - Retaining students in computer science (CS) courses and majors is a concern for many undergraduate CS programs in the United States. A large proportion of students who initially declare a major in CS do not complete a CS degree. The impact of future-oriented motivational constructs such as career aspirations and future con-nectedness on retention has received relatively little research at-tention, but these are potential contributors to students' retention in CS courses. The purpose of this study was to investigate how future-oriented motivation related to CS students' retention in CS courses over three consecutive semesters. Students enrolled in CS courses (four 100-level courses, one 200-level course, three 300-level courses, and five 400-level courses) completed survey measures of future-oriented motivation, and course enrollment data were collected for the three semesters. Logistic regression was used to determine whether motivation variables could distin-guish between students who were enrolled in at least one CS course during a given semester and students who were not en-rolled in any CS courses. Results indicate that, across all three se-mesters, career aspirations and knowledge of CS career paths were associated with a greater likelihood of continuing to take CS courses, and stronger future connectedness was associated with a lower likelihood of continuing to take CS courses. Implications for CS educators are discussed.
AB - Retaining students in computer science (CS) courses and majors is a concern for many undergraduate CS programs in the United States. A large proportion of students who initially declare a major in CS do not complete a CS degree. The impact of future-oriented motivational constructs such as career aspirations and future con-nectedness on retention has received relatively little research at-tention, but these are potential contributors to students' retention in CS courses. The purpose of this study was to investigate how future-oriented motivation related to CS students' retention in CS courses over three consecutive semesters. Students enrolled in CS courses (four 100-level courses, one 200-level course, three 300-level courses, and five 400-level courses) completed survey measures of future-oriented motivation, and course enrollment data were collected for the three semesters. Logistic regression was used to determine whether motivation variables could distin-guish between students who were enrolled in at least one CS course during a given semester and students who were not en-rolled in any CS courses. Results indicate that, across all three se-mesters, career aspirations and knowledge of CS career paths were associated with a greater likelihood of continuing to take CS courses, and stronger future connectedness was associated with a lower likelihood of continuing to take CS courses. Implications for CS educators are discussed.
KW - Computer science education
KW - Future time perspective
KW - Future-oriented motiva-tion
KW - Retention
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046088730&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85046088730&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1145/3159450.3159513
DO - 10.1145/3159450.3159513
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85046088730
T3 - SIGCSE 2018 - Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
SP - 350
EP - 355
BT - SIGCSE 2018 - Proceedings of the 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
PB - Association for Computing Machinery, Inc
T2 - 49th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, SIGCSE 2018
Y2 - 21 February 2018 through 24 February 2018
ER -