Pathway from Learning Multimedia Software to Computer Science Education

• Published in: Proceedings of the International Conference on Frontiers in Education: Computer Science and Computer Engineering (FECS) p. 181
• Main Authors: Huang, Ching-yu, Liou, Jing-Chiou, Huang, Grace
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Athens The Steering Committee of The World Congress in Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Applied Computing (WorldComp) 01.01.2015

In this paper, we propose a pathway to encourage high school students pursuing computer science study with 3 steps - from application users to basic programmers. Multimedia software and MS-Excel can be adopted to help high school students to work on video, animation, data analysis for homework or extracurricular projects, which could reduce frustration that one would experience when jumping directly into learning computer programming language. This would consequently increase opportunities in understanding software design. High school computer science curriculum should be designed to encourage more students to smoothly transition from applying the tools to their science and non-science subjects into studying computer science or technology related fields. In addition, statistics show that the rate of switching majors is very high in college STEM programs. Therefore, we also offer some suggestions which would help high school students better understand whether a future in computer science is something they want to pursue.