2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Examining Rural Identity Among High School Computer Science Students

Presented at Computers in Education Division (COED) Track 5.A

Students in geographically rural areas of the United States have less access to computer science education and are underrepresented in computer science majors and careers. At the same time, many rural occupations such as agriculture are becoming reliant on technology, and there is a need for skilled computer scientists with a rural background and skillset to develop effective tools and software that can be used in those occupations.

In addition, the values of grit, determination, self-sufficiency, and perseverance often studied in rural populations are also attributed to successful computer scientists. Given the need for rural students to participate in computer science careers, and the overlap in rural values and the qualities of good computer scientists, why do rural students not see themselves as future computer scientists, and why are they not interested in computer science majors and careers?

In this paper, we examine the geographical definition of "rural" as used by many researchers (based on the definition from the National Center for Education Statistics NCES) that is often applied homogenously across a school district or even entire county. We explore and validate a survey instrument used to measure "rural identity" of students at the individual level. In doing so, we discover a more broad and nuanced definition of "rural" that varies widely within individual schools.

By analyzing this rich dataset, we build the case that defining individual students as "rural" based on geographical location is insufficient to account for variances in their interest in computer science careers and their own self-identity as someone who could be a computer scientist. We use this information to inform future research and propose new avenues for engaging "rural" students in computer science.

Authors

Russell Feldhausen http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7236-3933 Kansas State University [biography]

Russell Feldhausen received a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2008, and a master’s degree in computer science in 2018, both from Kansas State University. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in computer science with a focus on computer science education, also at K-State. Feldhausen’s research interest is computer science education, targeting rural populations and exploring ways to integrate mastery learning into CS curricula. He is also actively involved in many K-12 outreach programs providing curricula and teacher training throughout Kansas.
Dr. Nathan H Bean http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-1970-1427 Kansas State University [biography]

Dr. Nathan Bean is a Teaching Associate Professor at Kansas State University Department of Computer Science and Co-Director of the Advancing Learning and Teaching in Computer Science (ALT+CS) Lab. His research is focused on the need to grow the body of students skilled in computing – both within the field of Computer Science, and within other disciplines that increasingly rely on the tools computer science makes available to advance their own work. Thus, his research involves investigations into how to effectively reach a broader and more diverse audience of students, and developing pedagogical techniques and technologies that allow it to be done at scale.
Joshua Levi Weese Kansas State University [biography]

Dr. Josh Weese is a Teaching Assistant Professor at Kansas State University in the department of Computer Science. Dr. Weese joined K-State as faculty in the Fall of 2017. He has expertise in data science, software engineering, web technologies, computer science education research, and primary and secondary outreach programs. Dr. Weese has been a highly active member in advocating for computer science education in Kansas including PK-12 model standards in 2019 with an implementation guide the following year. Work on CS teacher endorsement standards are also being developed. Dr. Weese has developed, organized and led activities for several outreach programs for K-12 impacting well more than 4,000 students.
Dr. David S. Allen Kansas State University [biography]

David is an Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Kansas State University and the Director of the Center for STEAM Education. His work involves professional development for K-12 schools in STEAM related areas, and he is currently focused on on-line programing development in mathematics and computer science education.

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Broadening Participation in Engineering and Engineering Technology
computer science
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Socio-Economic Status
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