Towards a common framework for evaluating computing outreach activities

In the past six years, dozens of conference papers and journal articles have been presented in Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) educational forums concerning computing outreach activities. Nearly half of these (47.5%) appeared in SIGCSE venues. In this study, we used the free-form question "What type of data has been collected in formal, peer-reviewed research that has been conducted on computing outreach activities in recent years?" as a basis for a systematic literature review in these venues from 2009-2015. During the analysis of the articles, it was discovered that a majority of efforts focused on middle school and high school students, a majority of the reported events took place in the United States, and almost half had a goal of increasing gender diversity in computing. This paper summarizes the information about the studies, including their data collection techniques and the data that was collected. We also present a list of recommended practices for data collection, methodologies, and reporting for educational researchers engaged in these activities in an effort to provide comparative data and allow us as a community to more scientifically understand the impact that these activities are having on the participants.