What makes CS teachers change?: factors influencing CS teachers' adoption of curriculum innovations

Computer Science (CS) education researchers hope their research has real impact on teaching practices. Developers of innovative curricula and tools for CS education want teachers to adopt their new approaches. What convinces a CS teacher to change and adopt something new—or not? This paper explores factors that influence CS teachers’ adoption and change. We studied our workshop participants to determine factors influencing their decision on whether to adopt a new CS curriculum. The results from our study indicate that multiple factors, some surprising, influence CS teachers’ adoption. Our findings suggest that teacher excitement in a new approach drives adoption, while more organizational or social issues inhibit adoption. Categories and Subject Descriptors K.3.2 [Computers and Education]: Computer and Information Science Education–computer science education. General Terms Design, Experimentation, Theory. Keywords Computer Science Education, CS Teacher, Adoption Factors.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: SIGCSE
• Authors: Lijun Ni
• Keywords: CS Education, Cs Teacher, Education, Influence Cs Teachers, SIGCSE 2009