Development and Validation of the Motivation to Teach Computer Science Scale

Abstract

Motivation is a powerful driver of teachers decisions to enter the teaching profession and why they stay in the field. As computer science education (CSEd) expands and the need for well-prepared computer science (CS) teachers grows, understanding what motivates teachers to teach CS will help address challenges related to recruiting, preparing, and retaining teachers. This poster presents the development of a scale that measures teachers motivation to teach CS. We used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to test and revise the scale. This resulted in a reliable, 18-item scale that measures four distinct, but related, constructs of teacher motivation to teach CS: external pressures, external benefits, student benefits, and personal enjoyment. Researchers and practitioners can utilize this scale to understand what motivates teachers to become CS educators and explore how such motivations can be leveraged to strengthen CSEd.