Parents & Podcasts: Computer Science Awareness for Elementary School Parents

Computer science (CS) education has positive benefits to K-12 students both academically and professionally. In 2024, CS will be required to be offered at all grade levels in all public schools in Hawaii. Many adults, including parents, caretakers, mentors, etc. are unaware of this monumental change and its impacts on their child’s learning. This project designed, developed, and implemented an instructional solution with the goal of improving the CS awareness and provided resources on how parents can support their children. An audio podcast was developed to deliver this instruction then evaluated to verify that it met its objectives.

Participants (n = 20) were administered a test before and after instruction which measured learning effectiveness and attitudinal changes. Results showed an average increase of 31% in test scores. Results also showed increases in familiarity with CS and awareness of CS related learning resources.