Making computing interesting to school students: teachers' perspectives

It is widely agreed that there is a need to excite more school students about computing. Considering teachers’ views about student engagement is important to securing their support for any solution. We therefore present the results of a qualitative, questionnaire - based study on teachers’ perceptions of the best ways to make the subject interesting. From 115 responses by UK computing teachers emerged a range of themes about the issues they felt were most important. We found that whilst their views reflected a range of approaches that are widely promoted in the literature and in national initiatives, there were also disconnects between teachers’ views and wider discourses. Based on the results, we give specific recommendations for areas where more should be done to support teachers in making computing interesting to school students. Academics should do more to engage with teachers, especially if they wish to introduce deep computing principles in schools. Teachers expressed an interest in computing clubs in schools, but a strong support network for them is still needed. This may be an opportunity for businesses and universities to help support teachers.