2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Motivation: Demographic disparities in computing instruction contribute to a tech workforce and a society where the ever-increasing role of computing is controlled by an unrepresentative minority. One facet of the solution is a body of computing education research that studies the experiences of all students, not just those who come from groups that have traditionally studied computing. Little previous work analyzes the entire landscape of equity-focused research specific to high school computing.

Goal: The goal of this paper is to answer the research question: What gaps in computing education research exist that may be contributors to the lack of equity in high school computing?

Methodology: Using a curated data set of research articles (n = 231) focused on K12 computing education, articles including high school students as study participants were analyzed to determine which dimensions of high quality and/or equity-enabling research were included.

Results: The yearly growth rate for studies of high school computing averaged over 40% during the past decade. While that research has indicators of being increasingly focused on equity, there are also substantial gaps in the research. For example, while studies that specify student disability status have been increasing, they are still less than 5% of all studies. And while most studies adhere to the practices of high quality research (e.g., specifying a research question), there is some room for improvement.

Implications: Awareness of the landscape of recent computing education research that focuses on high school students will enable researchers to align their efforts with the needs of all students, including those who are less likely to study computing.