A theory of attrition in computer science education which explores the effect of learning theory, gender, and context
Tim DeClue · Journal of computing sciences in colleges · 2009
This paper explores the relationship between how computer science is taught as those methods relate to the use of and how the use of context affects learning with regard to gender, motivation, and the retention of undergraduate majors. The idea of contextual learning, called situated cognition by learning theorists, is defined and a taxonomy of computer science contexts is presented for the purpose of helping computer science educators increase the quality course instruction. One particular context in the taxonomy, titled life context, is discussed as an innovative approach to computer science instruction.