Research Spotlight: Teomara Rutherford

University computer science (CS) courses serve as important bridges into further CS study and careers in STEM. Yet many women and underrepresented students with interests in STEM turn away from these career paths in college. With new research in CS education, University of Delaware researchers are uncovering more effective ways for instructors to support all student learning and encourage persistence in the field.

University of Delaware Associate Professor Teomara Rutherford, along with UD co-authors Hye Rin Lee, Austin Cory Bart, Andrew Rodrigues and Megan Englert of the University of Colorado Boulder, investigated changes in student motivation in first-year university CS courses. Although students’ perception of the value of CS declined over the semester, their sense of belonging and beliefs in their ability to succeed increased. Rutherford and her co-authors also found that students’ beliefs in their ability to succeed, their view of the course’s importance and their perception of its emotional cost predicted final course grades. These findings are already helping UD faculty enhance their courses. 

“This work is the result of the desire of CS faculty to ensure that students have a good first-year experience that supports their positive motivation for the field,” said Rutherford, who specializes in the learning sciences in UD’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). “Our study shows that certain aspects of motivation may be more likely to change across the semester and are more related to performance. Instructors can take steps to improve these aspects of motivation by emphasizing course importance, reducing frustration and focusing on making day-to-day content more interesting to students.”

Changes in motivation over time 

Rutherford and her co-authors surveyed more than 500 students four times during an introductory CS class. Students answered questions about their interest in CS, their sense of belonging and their belief in their ability to succeed, like “How interesting is this course?,” “How good are you at CS?” and “Do you feel accepted in CS?” The researchers analyzed the differences in responses between groups of students and investigated links to course performance. 

Among other takeaways, Rutherford and her co-authors found that women, trans and non-binary students reported a lower sense of belonging and lower beliefs in their ability to succeed at the beginning of the CS course than men did. However, over the course of the semester, their sense of belonging and their beliefs in their ability to succeed increased. By the end of the course, these gender differences were negligible. 

Rutherford and her co-authors also identified links between elements of student motivation and their performance in the course. In general, students who cared about the course and felt it was important to do well performed better in the course. For many students, these feelings of importance were coupled with students’ burgeoning sense of identity as a computer scientist. 

Although some elements of student motivation increased over the semester, other motivating factors decreased. For example, the researchers found that students’ perception of the value of the CS course and the utility of CS generally decreased over time. Similarly, students who reported that the course drained their effort and emotions were likely to perform worse academically. 

“The vast majority of students believed that they could succeed in the course, and most students believed that it was interesting and useful,” said Bart, associate professor in UD’s Department of Computer and Information Sciences. “These numbers go down over the course of the semester, but some amount of drain is common. Learning is a stressful process, and everyone’s tired by December. But it’s not like the average student falls into despair. Their enthusiasm for the course is just a little lower than where it was when they started. With the help of this research, we’re working on improving these numbers.”

Improving motivation to improve performance and persistence

Given these findings, the authors recommend that CS instructors incorporate lessons that directly communicate the utility of CS. For example, instructors could incorporate more open-ended projects, tie the course content to specific careers or encourage more senior students or alumni to share their experiences through class visits or a mentoring program.

To help students who struggle with the emotional cost of the course, instructors could use interventions that help students develop their self-regulation skills. For example, instructors could ask students to write reflections on how they’ve overcome personal challenges or help them develop their organizational, time management and study skills. 

“Our goal is to use this data to improve our course,” said Bart. “So far, the biggest change we’ve made at UD has been focusing projects on practical skills and providing multiple options for our diverse student groups. For example, last fall, students could either build their own web application or make a steganography tool, which allows you to hide secret messages in images. Both applications incorporated topics from the semester and allowed a lot of freedom for students to explore their own interests.”

The researchers’ recommendations align with Chad Lowe’s observations as an academic advisor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences. While Lowe has seen increased student interest in the program compared to previous years, he also recommends connecting course content to future careers. 

“We’ve seen a 14% increase in enrollment for the CS minor since spring 2023, and a slightly greater increase in applicants as well,” Lowe said. “Additionally, more major applicants are going for a double major than in previous years. Both of these data points indicate to me that students are seeing CS as a vital way to get an edge in their field of interest as technology surges to the forefront of every industry. This research can help us retain these students. Connecting CS classes with future career choices is still vital to helping students see the importance of what they are learning.” 

To learn more about CEHD research in STEM education, visit its research page.