First Year Computer Science and IT Students' Experience of Participation in the Discipline

Previous research in STEM education demonstrates that students are engaged in a continuous process of identity development, trying to integrate their educational experiences with their perception of who they are, and who they wish to become. It appears increasingly apparent from this body of research that students are not well supported in this process by the education they currently receive. The goal of this paper is to analyse a specific aspect of the student experience, participation, in order to gain a better understanding of how computer science (CS) and information technology (IT) students engage with CS prior to and during their studies. Drawing on student interview data we describe and discuss students' qualitatively different ways of experiencing participation in CS and IT. The notion of participation applied here is inspired by Wenger's notion of participation in his social theory of learning. A phenomenographic analysis identifies a spectrum of qualitatively distinct ways in which the students experience participation in CS and IT, ranging from "using", to participation as "continuous development", and "creating new knowledge".