The incredible shrinking pipeline
Communications of the ACM
Contributing to success in an introductory computer science course: a study of twelve factors
Proceedings of the thirty-second SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer Science Education
Increasing the enrollment of women in computer science
Proceedings of the thirty-second SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer Science Education
Using qualitative research software for CS education research
Proceedings of the 6th annual conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
Unlocking the clubhouse: the Carnegie Mellon experience
ACM SIGCSE Bulletin - Women and Computing
Defensive climate in the computer science classroom
SIGCSE '02 Proceedings of the 33rd SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Communications of the ACM - Blueprint for the future of high-performance networking
Mindstorms: children, computers, and powerful ideas
Mindstorms: children, computers, and powerful ideas
Communications of the ACM
Social networks generate interest in computer science
Proceedings of the 37th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Computing Curricula 2005: The Overview Report
Proceedings of the 37th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
A games first approach to teaching introductory programming
Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
The current crisis in computing: what are the real issues?
Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Threads™: how to restructure a computer science curriculum for a flat world
Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Note to self: make assignments meaningful
Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGCHI conference on Creativity & cognition
An HCI Approach to Computing in the Real World
Journal on Educational Resources in Computing (JERIC)
"Georgia computes!": improving the computing education pipeline
Proceedings of the 40th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
The effect of CS unplugged on middle-school students' views of CS
ITiCSE '09 Proceedings of the 14th annual ACM SIGCSE conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
Computer science education in Peru: a new kind of monster?
ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
Developing verification-driven learning cases
Proceedings of the fifteenth annual conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education
Discovering computing: perspectives of web designers
Proceedings of the Sixth international workshop on Computing education research
Proceedings of the 42nd ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
Looking at Secondary Teacher Preparation Through the Lens of Computer Science
ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE)
Creative coding and visual portfolios for CS1
Proceedings of the 43rd ACM technical symposium on Computer Science Education
Application of non-programming focused treisman-style workshops in introductory computer science
Proceedings of the 43rd ACM technical symposium on Computer Science Education
CS Unplugged and Middle-School Students’ Views, Attitudes, and Intentions Regarding CS
ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE)
Learning to program through use of code verification
Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
A day one computing for the social good activity
ACM Inroads
Proceedings of the ninth annual international conference on International computing education research
A framework for enhancing the social good in computing education: a values approach
Proceedings of the final reports on Innovation and technology in computer science education 2012 working groups
Computer science education for social good
Proceeding of the 44th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
Proceeding of the 44th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
Girls on the go: a CS summer camp to attract and inspire female high school students
Proceeding of the 44th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
Remedying misperceptions of computer science among middle school students
Proceedings of the 45th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
Underrepresented middle school girls: on the path to computer science through paper prototyping
Proceedings of the 45th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
Use and development of entertainment technologies in after school STEM program
Proceedings of the 45th ACM technical symposium on Computer science education
ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE)
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Studies show that teenagers perceive computing to be boring, antisocial, and irrelevant to their lives. We interviewed 13 teenagers from local Atlanta schools and observed over 40 teenagers in after-school technology programs to learn more about their perceptions of computing. We then interviewed 22 graduate students in the Human-Centered Computing and Human-Computer Interaction programs at Georgia Tech in order to learn about the factors that motivated them to pursue degrees in computing. We found that teenagers perceived computing to be boring, solitary, and lacking real-world context, yet graduate students described their research as exciting, social, and having a direct and meaningful impact on the world around them. Our results suggest that there is an opportunity to increase interest in computing among teenagers by bridging the gap between their perceptions of computing and the actual opportunities that are offered in computing disciplines. In this paper, we first describe our interview results. We then discuss our findings and propose a design-based curriculum to teach teenagers core computing principles. The goal of this curriculum is to prepare and motivate them for careers in today's expanding, Internet-based, global economy. We suggest that by portraying computing as an innovative, creative, and challenging field with authentic, real-world applications, we may be able to motivate teenagers to become more excited to pursue careers in computing.