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Kristin Raudonis
BS Computer Science - 2010
MS Software Engineering - 2011

  


Topic:

Where Are The Computer Science Majors?

In an effort to discern the cause for the lack of computer science majors in a society with an abundance of technical jobs, a survey was conducting among the non-computer science majors taking a computer science oriented class at Villanova University. The preliminary results pointed to the fact that while 75% of the non-majors stated they would take another computer science class, only 25% said they would consider switching to the major. This may be due to the fact that the same 75% of the students considered a computer science major to be difficult, or that they did not entirely understand the definition of a computer science major. The results of the survey suggest that in order to gain more computer science majors at the university level, schools at all levels should attempt to adequately educate students as to what a computer science major entails. With a more comprehensive understanding, more students might consider the major.

Finished Report:
Guided Study 2010.pdf

In addition to conducting the survey and summarizing the results, I also explored writing a technical paper using LaTex. Based on this work, I have also included the package including the bibliography, tex, and style file that I used. The paper was written with a LaTex ACM style template.

LaTex Bundled Package:
Guided Study 2010.zip

Computer Science Survey:
Click Here for the Survey

Papers and Articles Researched:
Date Paper or Article
9/14/10 Engaging Girls In Stem
  Today, girls are not any more interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math careers than they were in the past. Many young students (both male and female) say they are interested in the sciences, but as they get older, female noticably become less interested in taking the same advanced science courses that they took in their younger years. The author suggests expanding science learning outside the classroom in more real world experiences. High schools across the country should try to make a push to create more hands-on engineering experience, with more labs, robotics, or even more classes.
9/17/10 NCWIT - The Facts
  The Department of Labor suggests that there will be 1.4 million computing jobs by 2018, and based on the current enrollment trends at the university level, there will only be half the number of graduating computer science and technical majors to fill those jobs. The field is not only failing to attact the talent of women on the college level, but it's also losing the talent that's already in the workforce. There is approximately a 10% - 15% salary different between men and women in technology careers.
11/16/10
  This article revolved around a sruvey that the atuhor conducted among various high school students in California and Arizona. they were tyring to figure out why computer science majors with clear talent do not choose the major. They look on the experience that they have and what classes they have taken. One of the major influences against CS was that they did not want to sit at a computer all day. Generally, they seem to have an incorrect impression on what the major entails. They could not explain what it is that computer science majors do as a carrer.
11/16/10 Predicting the success of freshmen in a computer science major
  This was a study that was conducted among freshman computer science majors. Those who stuck with the major or another engineering discipline had higher SAT math scores and had more science and math courses in high school. Since the survey was conducted in 1979, the data is a little outdated, but the same theoretically should still hold true today. The author attributed this to the fact that there is a high problem solving component in computer science, a skill that is gained in practicing math.
11/17/10 Predicting performance in an introductory computer science course
  This particular study dealt with a group of first year computer science majors. Based on their high school GPA, and two portions of their ACT scores, the examiner could determine whether or not they would probably be successful in the major. the higher the scores, the more probable chance that the student will do well. However, they state that there are a number of factors that are not explainable, and that not every student will fit the pattern. If a student wishes to do well and has mediocre standardized test scores, they still might do very well in the college enviornment. Additionally, if a student is a transfer, their college work should be taken into consideration.