2010 10th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies

Offering Early Success Experiences in Software Construction:

Experiences Teaching Dynamic Website Development to High School Girls

Mary Beth Rosson, Hansa Sinha, Tisha Hansford and Jan Mahar
Center for Human-Computer Interaction
The Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA USA
mrosson@psu.edu

Abstract—In spite of comparable levels of computer access and
use by males and females at home and school, women continue
to be underrepresented in careers and education related to the
computer and information sciences. In this paper, we describe
outreach activities taking place within the wConnect project, a
research effort aimed at building a developmental learning
community of women in which members at different levels of
sophistication support each other at different stages of their
education and careers in computing and related fields. More
specifically, we report on a series of hands-on workshops that
were designed and delivered by undergraduate members of the
community to high school girls. We describe the design and
conduct of the workshop activities, the girls’ reactions, our
own reflections and implications for future work.
Keywords - Women in computing, computer science educa-
tion, learning tools, instructional scaffolding.
I. INTRODUCTION
Women in the U.S. are underrepresented in the Computer
Science and Information Technology workforce (CS/IT),
outnumbered by men six to one in leadership positions. Stud-
ies show that women consider CS/IT unattractive as a career
option: they terminate training earlier than men, choose not
to continue with computer subjects as often as men, and per-
ceive CS/IT as masculine [5][3]. Studies have pointed to a
variety of explanatory factors, including gender-specific so-
cialization, self-efficacy regarding computer tasks and nega-
tive stereotypes of programmers [1][2]. We report work
aimed at counteracting these stereotypes and trends.
Studies of young men and women suggest that they have
similar interest levels in computer use [3]. In fact one survey
of U.S. college students found that women reported more
positive attitudes about computer use than men. Unfortu-
nately a positive view of computers does not necessarily
translate into an interest in computer-related careers, espe-
cially for women: many who report high interest and use of
computers still do not see IT as a career option.
The problem appears to be more of an “input problem”
(women do not enter) than a “throughput problem” (women
enter but then leave) [4]. Once they are there, the CS/IT
workplace is seen as a positive place for female professionals
(e.g., regarding work-family conflict, feelings of burnout,
perceptions of work-load, fair treatment, supervisor support).
Indeed, women at times feel they receive greater career sup-
port from supervisors (e.g., recognizing opportunities, coach-
ing job performance). Hence greater attention is needed on
“supply-side” issues like knowledge about (and role models
who exemplify) the activities of careers in CS/IT.
The wConnect project is building a developmental learn-
ing community where women at different levels of education
and computing sophistication share and support each other’s
goals [8]. In wConnect members increase their CS/IT skills
while also creating social bonds in the community, by reach-
ing out to members who are less advanced. Professionals
reach out to college students and college students reach out
to high school students. In this paper we describe experi-
ences with a set of high school workshops that introduce
dynamic web programming.
In the balance of the paper we summarize and reflect on
our experiences with these workshops. Each workshop ex-
emplifies the developmental community concept of an un-
dergraduate member of wConnect who designs and delivers
a workshop for girls at her former high school. In this sense,
each instance meets three objectives: high school girls are
introduced to web programming; the workshop leader gains
experience in outreach and leadership; and a new set of high
school girls are invited into the larger wConnect community.
II. WORKSHOP DESIGN
In prior work we found that simple data-oriented web-
sites are good starting projects for this age group [7]. Our
goal was to teach basic CS/IT concepts like structured data
(database records and fields), simple logic (queries that com-
bine multiple conditions), and dynamic web applications
with content that depends on live data and associated queries.
A. Web Application Projects
A specific result from our focus groups was a set of ideas
about simple web applications that might be good learning
projects for this age group. We were aiming for active learn-
ing experiences; that is, experiences that evoke and connect
to goals and concerns that are meaningful to this population
of young women. At the same time we needed design prob-
lems that was feasible in a workshop context – we antici-
pated 10-15 girls at a time, for 45-90 minutes, and potentially
diverse local high school settings.
The first project that we designed was aimed at advanced
students who are already planning for college education and
careers; in the U.S this is 3rd and 4th year students – juniors

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DOI 10.1109/ICALT.2010.133
and seniors. For this age group, college exploration is a uni-
fying interest, so the workshop leaders designed a “College
Admissions” project: girls collect college admission data on
schools of interest, then are guided to perform queries on the
data, for example a page that lists universities sorted by aca-
demic criteria, tuition costs, and so on. As we used this pro-
ject, we found considerable interest in outreach for younger
girls, those in the first or second year of high school who
might be encouraged to enroll in CS/IT courses that would
prepare them for university programs in technical disciplines.
Thus we identified a second problem area, one that would be
attractive across a wider age-range of students.
Figure 1. Workspace used to support workshop activities.
The second project was “Places We’ve Been” (Figure 1).
The project is similar to the first: the girls create database
entries for locations that they have visited, including place
name, location, a “story” of interest, and an image. As before
they create queries, using simple AND/OR rules for condi-
tion combination. They also learn to specify database fields
for web display, along with other page editing techniques. At
the end of the workshop, girls’ individual data are merged
and visualized on a Google map.
The workshop activities were supported with Bridge-
tools, a research tool that includes editors for databases, da-
tabase queries, web pages, and tags for embedding queries
on a web page (http://bridgetools.sourceforge.net). Figure 1
contains an example workspace from a Places workshop.
Editable objects are on the left and the work area on the
right. Any object can also be opened in a web browser point.
(see, e.g. the page shown in the browser, lower left).
B. Initiating and Conducting the Workshops
Each workshop was arranged and conducted in phases
that were designed to provide development experiences for
the college team member leading that particular workshop
(hence “leader”), her assistants, and the high school girls.
To begin, the leader initiates a partnershp with a teacher
advocate, generally a former teacher at her high school. They
establish key details (e.g., dates, timing, room) and gain per-
mission from the school for a visit by the research team.
They also decide who and how to recruit, and choose a pro-
ject topic. The leader and other team members then develop
custom application packets, including a flyer, permission
forms, and background survey. The teacher uses these mate-
rials to advertise and recruit participants.
459
To prepare for the workshop, the leader and other team
members generate a rough agenda (45-60 minutes depending
on school). On the workshop day, they arrive in time to set
up, then greet the participants and conduct the workshop.
The workshops begin with a brief introduction to the project
and tools, but almost immediately the girls are given free-
dom to explore and work on their own. At times their atten-
tion is gained to introduce new pieces of functionality (e.g.,
specifying and embedding queries). At the end of the work-
shop, they complete a brief feedback survey and are invited
to join the wConnect online community.
III. WORKSHOP EXPERIENCES
To date we have delivered 10 workshops, six at our uni-
versity and four in high schools of wConnect members. Here
we focus on the four workshops delivered “in situ”, as these
are significantly more challenging to organize and deliver.
A. Participant Reactions
The workshops were delivered at three locations, includ-
ing two back-to-back sessions at one site; the sessions in-
cluded a total of 58 girls (workshops of size 11, 12, 11 and
24). The first session was for juniors and seniors and used
College Admissions; the others includedr younger girls and
used Places We’ve Been. Ages ranged from 14-18, with an
average of 15.5 years. Only three girls had taken a course in
computer programming, but as expected computer use was
high: an average of 2.2 hours per day spent socializing online
and 2.14 hours spent using the computer for course work.
The primary data collected after the workshop was a set
of four 5-point rating scales that probed project understand-
ing, perceived success, fun, and feelings of encouragement
for similar activities. Responses were generally positive,
with means ranging from 4.04 (encouraged) to 4.5 (fun).
Single-sample t-tests confirmed that all means were more
positive than the neutral value of 3.0 (t[57]=18.7, 18.9, 17.4,
13.1; p <.0001). With respect to projects, all but a few of the
girls created web applications containing at least one query.
These results are promising, in that girls enjoyed the ac-
tivity and felt positive about the web work they had done. As
a converging measure, we also collected open-ended com-
ments. Most of these were positive in nature (24), but we did
receive a few less enthusiastic comments (5).
In general the positive remarks emphasized the creativity
or freedom that the girls experienced; we found this a very
promising result, as one goal was to help the girls see how
empowered they could be with just a bit of programming.
The negative comments tended to reflect low interest in the
workshop concept, or a feeling of being over-qualified for
the activity (e.g., if already quite familiar with HTML, etc.)
A secondary goal of the workshops was to invite the high
school girls to join the wConnect online community. We did
this across workshops; about half (52%) expressed interest in
learning more. However at this point we have only 12 high
school members in wConnect. Part of this is due to the diffi-
culty of contacting and enrolling girls remotely once the
workshop is over. But a more important obstacle has been
finding online activities that are appealing or useful to girls
at this age. The wConnect online community has been de-
signed by and largely for its undergraduate members, with an
emphasis on pre-professional discussion and activities. We
realize that this may lend a rather “professional” ambience to
the online community as a whole and so we are working to
discover and initiate more teenage-oriented online activities.
B. wConnect Team Reflections
Another contribution of the work reported here is lessons
learned that may benefit other educators with similar out-
reach goals. Here we reflect on the nature of the workshops,
what we learned from the in situ requirement, and how the
leaders and their assistants have developed through the work.
Our experiences delivering similar workshops in our own
university and high school settings has highlighted factors
that can only be experienced when a workshop program like
this is taken out to the schools. For example the learning
climate of the high school vs. university settings varied tre-
mendously. In the high schools, the girls knew each other,
with considerable chatting, excitement, and helping behavior
as they learned new things. In contrast during the summer
university workshops, girls sat silently and worked alone.
From a more practical perspective, the in situ workshops
required considerable advance planning, because we had
little knowledge (or confidence) of the technology we would
find on arrival. In our first workshop we had no computer lab
and had to accommodate a firewall - thus we developed a
solution that allowed us to show up with our own laptops,
initialize a custom LAN, and run a “mirror” local version of
the workshop activity. In another case the school blocked use
of Google Images. Luckily for us, the girls already knew the
work-around, which was to search using the Canadian site!
Recall that one goal of the workshops was to provide a
development experience for the workshop leaders. Three
undergraduates have served as leaders, each with different
background and personality. All were successful, but all
needed mentoring and support to increase their confidence
and make them secure with the tools we were using. Each
time we conducted “trials” of the workshop using our own
team as participants, so that the leaders could try out the
tools and activities in a scripted but safe way. We also
learned that a protocol for how to contact teachers and staff
at former schools was important for increasing confidence.
IV. DISCUSSSION: LEVERAGING SUCCESS EXPERIENCES
Over a period of two years, we conducted four in situ
workshops at three area high schools. The workshops have
been quite successful: the girls are able to grasp and apply
the concepts about databases, queries and dynamic web
pages, and are in general positive about the experiences they
had. More than half expressed interest in learning more about
wConnect, the developmental community hosting the event.
The success of the workshops can be attributed at least in
part to the scaffolding built into the projects [8]. The work-
spaces were initialized to contain “empty” objects of the sort
needed and the database tables were initialized with fields.
The “lessons” were scripted to build on one another, with
attention paid first to the central constructs of structured data,
followed by the tools for retrieving and displaying such data
on web pages. And, because all of the learning was situated
460
within a personally meaningful programming project, the
girls had significant learning motivation and often jumped
ahead to explore and experiment on their own.
As we shared in our contrast between the university and
in situ workshops, the social facilitation within a friendship
groups was important. Girls arrive with their friends and sit
together. Particularly for Places We’ve Been, the result was a
happy and active atmosphere where girls were learning and
sharing their new skills. This suggests that even for univer-
sity workshops, recruitment aimed at existing social net-
works might be help to promote active learning.
However, we also note that our goal of attracting high
school participants to the online developmental community
needs more work. There are significant obstacles to bringing
teenage girls into a virtual community comprised of college
and working women who they do not know and who are
pursuing technical issues related to their education and ca-
reers. Topics of conversation tend to revolve around career-
life issues, or tips for making the most of internships; why
would a teenager want to engage with these issues?
As a result we are exploring ways to expand our online
outreach. We always planned to deliver in situ workshops
but never considered how to engage with these younger girls
afterwards. The team is now working on concepts like virtual
meetings or online games that might be fun for younger girls
while at the same time giving them a chance to raise and
explore issues related to technology education or careers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This project was supported by the National Science Foun-
dation (BPC 0634337). We thank the wConnect team and
teacher advocates. For related papers see [7][8][9].
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