Broadening Participation through Physical Computing: Replicating Sensor-Based Programming Workshops for Rural Students in Sri Lanka

In today's digital world, computing education offers critical opportunities, yet systemic inequities exclude under-represented communities, especially in rural, under-resourced regions. Early engagement is vital for building interest in computing careers and achieving equitable participation. Recent work has shown that the use of sensor-enabled tools and block-based programming can improve engagement and self-efficacy for students from under-represented groups, but these findings lack replication in diverse, resource-constrained settings. This study addresses this gap by implementing sensor-based programming workshops with rural students in Sri Lanka. Replicating methods from the literature, we conduct a between-group study (sensor vs. non-sensor) using Scratch and real-time environmental sensors. We found that students in both groups reported significantly higher confidence in programming in Scratch after the workshop. In addition, average changes in both self-efficacy and outcome expectancy were higher in the experimental (sensor) group than in the control (non-sensor) group, mirroring trends observed in the original study being replicated. We also found that using the sensors helped to enhance creativity and inspired some students to express an interest in information and communications technology (ICT) careers, supporting the value of such hands-on activities in building programming confidence among under-represented groups.