Engaging in Computer Science

Following a review of the current literature regarding STEM outreach, STEM education, and computer science/cybersecurity teaching methods, three themes emerged that are discussed in more detail after they are initially presented:

• The Need for Outreach Programs and Open-Source Activities: Computer science literacy is lacking or lagging behind and many educators are struggling to provide quality computer science education, making outreach programs and quality open-source activities crucial for meeting the growing demand for computer science professionals.

• Outreach Experiences Support Continued Learning: Outreach programs support continued learning through instilling confidence and motivation, employing hands-on and student-centered activities, and promoting technical skills desirable by future employers.

• Sensible Learning Experiences for Diverse Students: Constructive outreach promotes sensible, novel, and cost-effective activities that fit the needs of many diverse students and promote their engagement.

The Need for Outreach Programs and Open-Source Activities

Regardless of the pressing need for computer science literacy and integrated STEM education as described earlier, countries around the world are struggling to provide adequate opportunities for students to master crucial skills in these areas. For example, a study of Australian educators found that only 37% of educators felt they could promote a career in computer science and only 26% of educators reported that they were able to host industry visitors to promote computer science. While experienced STEM university faculty could offer assistance and create broader outreach efforts for pre-collegiate students, these faculty activities are often regarded as an inferior mission, subsidiary to university teaching and research obligations, and thus they are often not explored in depth.

In the United States (U.S.), the same trends are true, as computer science literacy is lacking and outreach activities/programs which increase motivation could offer a potential solution until school infrastructure has been revisited. Increasing student interest and motivation is critical for fulfilling the growing demand for computer science professionals. In 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted that one of every two STEM jobs would require computer science and three of four require some computer science skills. Only a year later in 2017, computer occupations already made up 45% of STEM jobs, nearly reaching the previous five year prediction in a single year. By 2018, the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics found that computer and mathematical occupations accounted for six of the top 30 fastest growing occupations and, of those six occupations, information security analysts was projected to grow the fastest by 2028. A report in 2019 found that computer and information scientists are specifically projected to see a 16% increase in employment by 2028, which is significantly higher than the average growth rate across all occupations of 5%. Furthermore, although interest in a few STEM fields has grown, interest in computing and related fields has declined, regardless of the growing industry demand. Thus, at least a temporary intervention is required to promote computer science with all students, as outreach opportunities for students must be provided to combat the decreased interest in STEM. Reassuringly, this focus has spurred outreach activities in the U.S. as well as other countries, and more are needed.

Educators are asked to do an extraordinary number of tasks, and learning a content areas outside of their realm of expertise is often not possible. However, just searching the internet for help is not enough. Research shows that, when educators with limited computer science content knowledge search for resources, their search phrases are too generic and then yield unproductive results. As an extension, students do not get that additional support at home either, as parents searching for computer science opportunities for their children are generally unsuccessful.

Outreach Experiences Support Continued Learning

Computer science education enables students to solve problems creatively, recognize opportunities for technical innovations, and forge career paths in numerous different fields. Outreach activities make this continued involvement possible. For example, professional development focused on simple computer programming approaches can propel pre-collegiate educators to integrate new, challenging computer-controlled robotics into their instruction. Importantly, all educators can access lessons with computer science or cybersecurity components (e.g., TeachEngineering.org, csunplugged.org) and find professional development and workshop opportunities (e.g., TeachEngineering.org), but finding the time to invest in learning these concepts and activities is difficult.

Outreach activities support continued student achievement through increased motivation, especially since many students who participate in outreach activities do not have much background in STEM fields. In fact, low motivation has been linked to low achievement in individuals with non-science backgrounds attempting to learn science topics. There is a universal need to feel connected to others and a desire to experience integration and freedom, particularly among young women. This implies that students are motivated by a sense of belonging to a community as well as a sense of agency over their learning. Outreach programs, including summer camps, are one potential avenue to achieve this level of connection. Keeping students motivated requires building their confidence and providing them with a more realistic baseline when assessing their own self-efficacy. Outreach programs can foster achievement, confidence, and self-efficacy, through the creation of inspiring learning environments that demonstrate the need for computer science and encourage continuous learning. Furthermore, establishing long-term student interest requires support from educators, and educators should be involved in maintaining the learning environment that houses outreach events that spark motivation.

Student commitment to learning increases when they have a sense of respect from instructors, such as expressed admiration or using examples that students identify with. This allows for outreach staff to serve as role models for students and helps students form practical perceptions of future professions. Additionally, student commitment is increased as images of professionals become more accurate and attainable. Furthermore, outreach camps can provide student spaces to break free of stereotypical images of STEM professionals that can broaden student involvement, supporting diversity.

Sensible Learning Experiences for Diverse Students

Outreach activities should be sensible and reasonable. This means that the materials and methods chosen should properly support learning. In STEM fields, particularly computer science and cybersecurity, this means considering current trends in a quickly changing technology landscape and creating novel approaches for teaching new concepts. Many STEM fields benefit from the use of relatively expensive materials; regardless, cost-effective approaches should be taken to provide outreach activities. This ensures that they are maintainable, repeatable, and extensible. In addition to monetary restrictions, outreach availability is largely constrained by activities that are only offered in a single location. Some outreach opportunities are established through university programs, and they are often limited to the university's city. While outreach activities are vital to supporting local interest in STEM, they do little to reach many diverse students.

Outreach programs should also create conducive learning environments for diverse students. Simply exposing students to STEM topics does not guarantee an impact on the diversity of STEM fields. Therefore, students' interests and motivating factors must be considered to provide conducive learning environments. For example, activities should be suitable for a wide age range, maintaining flexibility while ensuring core concepts are conveyed. By gathering students across wide age ranges, outreach opportunities provide unique experiences for students who are normally surrounded by others close to their age. Furthermore, studies have shown that students develop attitudes towards STEM professions early in their lives. Young girls start making decisions about future careers before entering even middle school (around age 11). Always being surrounded by similar classmates limits the opportunity for students with different backgrounds to learn from each other. For example, older students are robbed of the benefits of leading younger students and, more broadly, establishing early leadership roles. Therefore, outreach opportunities have implications in supporting diversity in STEM fields. In particular, women are underrepresented in STEM fields and care should be taken to research gender differences in learning patterns before making important decisions about the activities included in an outreach program. For example, research shows that hands-on activities are particularly effective for female students.

Research Questions and Instruments

The identification of the lack of pre-collegiate computer science instruction, along with possible outreach solutions, led the authors of this article to address current gaps in understanding pre-collegiate students' interest, awareness, and knowledge of cybersecurity. The researchers investigated three research questions during the week long summer camps:

• How does a week-long summer outreach program impact student interest in cybersecurity?

• How do summer outreach activities influence student security awareness and privacy practices?

• How do hands-on activities and student-centered labs impact student content knowledge after voluntary cybersecurity summer camps?