Attitudes and beliefs about computer science among students and faculty

Abstract

What students think about a discipline --- its structure, usefulness, and how it can be learned --- plays an important role in shaping how they approach it. Just as faculty aim to have students learn the facts and skills of a discipline, so they may also want to shape students' beliefs and attitudes. This study reports the attitudes of undergraduate computer science students early and late in the curriculum, and compares them with the beliefs and attitudes of faculty in the same department. The results show where students think what faculty would like them to think, where they do not, and whether there is evidence that senior students agree more or less with faculty than do students in introductory courses. The results can guide curricular improvements.