School Outreach
Back to All ActionsWhat is the Action?
Organise school outreach sessions for primary or secondary level students, where students get exposed to the field of computing.
Target cohort are students of primary and/or secondary schools who have never experienced a formal Computer Science class. It is not exclusive to female students but aims to address the existing stereotypes associated with the field, for instance, for Computer Science to be seen as a field for men only.
Quick Facts to Support this Action
- School outreach program which consisted of short sessions for over 7000 secondary school participants in Ireland positively influenced students’ perceptions of computer science.
- Female participation has significantly increased in the outreach sessions in Ireland that targeted students of all genders.
There is evidence of an increase in female uptake among university Computer Science students since the start of the outreach initiative.
- Research indicates that a female school outreach initiative CodePlus, based in Ireland increased participants’ interest in Computer Science.
- Self-reported programming ability among girls has increased as well following an Irish study.
Who is this Action Targeted for?
Target cohort are students of primary and/or secondary schools who have never experienced a formal Computer Science class. It is not exclusive to female students but aims to address the existing stereotypes associated with the field, for instance, for Computer Science to be seen as a field for men only.
Step-by-Step Guide
Explore each of the steps below by expanding them.
- Think of time and length of a session that will not cause a major disruption to a school day. E.g., a 2-hour session for the morning or the early afternoon, depending on the school schedule.
- Consider schools are located close by to run sessions in them on same day.
- Plan the session based on children’s age. For example, first part is the introduction that tries to break the common misconceptions and stereotypes around computer science, followed by code practice, and/or computational thinking activities. This is example of an initiative run in Ireland for primary and secondary schools, and here (in the chapter The camp structure is divided into three sections) is a plan for the session.
- Assess what resources, i.e., human resources, transportation and equipment might be needed.
- Contact the principal or delegate at the school/s you are targeting. Explain what the school session is about, ask ‘what would be a best day/time for them/their schedule(?), explain how long the session is and what are the goals and the benefits for the schools. Example of a message to schools from CSinc initiative in Ireland is here.
- Where applicable, advise the school contacts on hardware needed.
- Mention what your previous experience/success with school outreach has been, if any. Optionally send a link to self-register, see example of a form here.
➤ 3. Shortlist schools and schedule visits
- Where there are multiple schools that subscribed to a visit and are located in the same area, combine visits to them on the same day, where possible.
- Reduce the transportation of equipment if the school provides it.
- Collect approximate numbers of students from the school representative and ensure there is enough room in the school to accommodate them. Alternatively, schedule another session at a later time/date.
- If applicable, send pre-initiative survey form to the school, to be filled by the students prior to the sessions.
- Facilitate sessions, where possible, with faculty female role models who have a potential to influence students from underrepresented gender groups in computing to pursue an education in the field. (See action Faculty Role Models for more information)
- Assess any challenges/lessons to learn from the first sessions and consider making changes, where applicable.
- Distribute the post-session survey to collect feedback.
Evaluation Approach
Issue pre- and post-outreach feedback surveys to school students. Please ensure that where applicable, a consent by a parent/guardian is received.
An example of a full school outreach survey specific to a computer science initiative (CSinc) is available here. An example of a parental consent form (CSinc) is findable here. – These surveys are also available in the Resources section.
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Survey Students School Outreach
CSinc Student Questionnaire
Parental Consent Form for School Outreach
CSinc Parental Consent Form for School Outreach Sessions
Sample Outreach Message to Schools
CSinc Sample Email to Schools
https://csinc.ie/Home/outreach – CSinc – outreach initiative for primary and secondary school children in Ireland
Example of an outreach message to a school – CSinc initiative https://groups.google.com/g/cesi-cs/c/jrK853dQI4A
Lawlor, G., Byrne, P. and Tangney, B. (2020). “CodePlus”—Measuring Short-Term Efficacy in a Non-Formal, All-Female CS Outreach Programme. ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE), 20(4), pp.1–18.
Nolan, K. (2021). Addressing Uptake and Gender Balance in Computer Science: The Success of CSinc. Equality and Diversity, Issue 7.
Nolan, K., Faherty, R., Quille, K., Nolan, K., O’Farrell, A., & Becker, B. A. (2023). Computer Science Outreach to Inform Secondary School Students’ Perceptions of Computer Science: Preliminary Findings. Technological University Dublin. DOI:
10.21427/VGPA-NA16