Contexts in Computer Science Education

Teaching Computing to EveryoneMark Guzdial & Barbara Ericson1We are CS educators. I will argue that our audience is not just CS specialists or majors. The demand and need is greater elsewhere.StoryComputer science has been tasked for over 50 years with teaching computing to everyone.

Were not even close.

How do we create interest in Computing, and sustain that interest through High School?Sustainable and Effective Summer CampsCompetitions Professional Development Sustaining Teachers through Communities

How do we teach Computer Science to adults who do not want to become software engineers or computer scientists?Media ComputationAssessing CS1Graphics Designers who Program2The varied audiences for Education.

The Two Cultures

3Why is this a problem? We may not be talking to them right. There is more than one audience for what we have to offer.Most of them dont look like us. Some people reject science: Denialists. Global warming? Vaccines? There are no learning styles. Psychological Science in the Public InterestLearn Programming to Re-Think Process Everywhere (1961)Alan Perlis argued that computer science should be part of a liberal education.Explicitly, he argued that all students should learn to program.Why?Because Computer Science is the study of process.Automated execution of process changes everythingIncluding how we think about things we already know

4Talked about the economics department at Carnegie Tech (at that time). Talk about rethinking Calculus.

Today, theres a growing call

High School Participation in AP STEM Disciplines Chris Stephenson, CSTA, 20106Graph shows # of students taking the various STEM AP tests since 1997. CS is the sad red line at the bottom. Note that even the relatively new AP courses statistics and environmental sciences are doing much better than us. Undergraduate Curriculum Has a Second-Order EffectStudents decide to avoid computing long before they have any idea what the university curriculum is.3.Source: Eric Roberts & Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, 2005

7Our work:Starting out better, then supporting adultsNSF BPC Alliance Georgia Computes! from 2006-2012

How do we create interest in Computing, and sustain that interest through High School?Sustainable and Effective Summer Camps Competitions in Scratch, Alice, and AP CS AProfessional Development for teachersDeveloping a community of computing teachers

How do we teach Computer Science to adults who do not want to become software engineers or computer scientists?Media ComputationAssessing CS1: Valid and language-independentGraphics Designers who ProgramCreating Interest in ComputingStart earlyWe start with 4th graders (9 10 years old)Provide lots of opportunities for engagementWeekend workshops, afterschool programs, summer camps, courses in 9th 12th grade, competitions, a lending library, student helpersUse activities that are creative, hands-on, and socialUse a variety of activitiesNo one thing appeals to everyone

Summer Computing CampsEngaging introduction to computing for 4th-12th grade studentsAdding elementary students made the camps financially self-sustainingReaches students that are not served in formal educationMajority-minorityTest bed for new activitiesIn 2011 App InventorIn 2012 EarSketch

Summer Computing Camps: Effective The camps decrease the belief that programming is hard The camps increase confidence and interestSorting by gender or race results: Girls show greater change on "Programming is hard" Boys end up with greater confidence than girls Black students show statistically significant changes

StatementNPre/Post MeanPaired t-testEffect size2. Programming is hard1692.78/2.56.007**0.216. I am good at computing1683.8/3.96.032*0.167. I like computing1684.4/4.55.070.148. I know more than my friends about computing1703.44/3.69.002**0.24** p