K-12 Computing Education Seminar

Facilitator: Hélène Martin
Meetings: Tuesdays, 12:30 - 2:00pm in CSE403

Children love computers and now use them in all aspects of their lives. At the same time, the shortage of skilled computer scientists is dire enough for DARPA to fund outreach initiatives. In this seminar, we explore challenges and opportunities related to computing education for pre-collegial students. Our primary goal is to become more effective advocates and supporters of computing education in K-12. We discuss relevant education policy, teaching strategies and existing endeavors while spending time working with K-12 students in the Seattle area. Find weekly summaries of our conversations on the blog.

This quarter, we will spend about half an hour of each meeting discussing a reading and will dedicate the remaining hour to working on projects.

Reading schedule:

Date	Reading and/or topic	Facilitator
9/25	Who are we? What were our own K-12 experiences? What should K-12 students learn about computing? What do we want to accomplish this quarter?
10/02	A model for high school computer science education: the four key elements that make it! What can we learn from the Israeli experience? What are challenges to implementing something similar in the US? Projects: background research	Rakib
10/9	A Novel Approach to K-12 CS Education: Linking Mathematics and Computer Science	Michael A.
10/16	Embedding computer science concepts in K-12 science curricula	John
10/23	CyberCivics: A Novel Approach to Reaching K-12 Students with the Social Relevance of Computer Science	Emily
10/30	A technology-assisted scavenger hunt for introducing K-12 students to sensor networks	Mikey
11/6	The future of teaching programming is on mobile devices TouchDevelop now has a browser-based application: TouchDevelop	Sujit
11/13	Towards a Curriculum for Electronic Textiles in the High School Classroom	Patricia
11/20	Modeling How Students Learn to Program	Jasmine
11/27	The CS10K project (panel abstract) Transforming high school computing: A call to action	David

Projects:

Project	Group
Puzzles for future computer scientists
Lillypad Arduino workshop materials for middle school girls
Scratch-based programming workshop materials for middle school
Teacher resources for teaching CS/math/science/? concepts with Scratch
CS Unplugged-type mini-sessions for open house and/or school visits (e.g. binary, discrete math card tricks, tic-tac-toe AI)
Mini lessons on how the Internet works, how a computer works

(baby computer picture from here)