K-12 Computing Education Seminar

Facilitator: Allison Obourn
Meetings: Tuesdays 1:30 - 3:00pm

Syllabus | Volunteer Norms | Project Ideas

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.

Date	Topics	Assignments
March 29th	Who are we? What were our K-12 experiences like? What do we want to get out of this seminar? How has computing education been discussed in the media lately?
April 5th	What is computational thinking? Why is 'computational thinking' currently favored over 'computer science' to describe K-12 programs? What should K-12 students learn about computing? Where does computing fit into the K-12 curriculum?	Skim pages 6-31 from Running on Empty and skim pages 9-35 from Rebooting the Pathway to Success. Read Computational Thinking and skim Bringing Computational Thinking to K-12
April 11th	What is visual programming? What is the role of programming in K-12 computing? How are teaching programming in K-12 and college different?	What do students learn about programming from game, music video, and storytelling projects? SIGCSE : G : Minding the gap between blocks-based and textbased programming: Evaluating introductory programming tools Explore and play with Scratch, Kodu, Alice or AppInventor
April 18th	What is Computer Science Principles? How are the classes similar and different? How could you test the outcomes	Seven big ideas of CSP Explore CS Principles curricula, code.org, Berkley BJC, UCSD Expeditions through Alice and UW CSE 120.
April 26th	Why is diversity important in computing? Why are women underrpresented in computing? How can we improve representation of minorities in computing?	Read Broadening Partcipation: The Why and the How, which was written right here in the UW CSE department Find one other article about diversity in Computer Science in the news.
May 3rd	What challenges are associated with learning to program? What are some of the things to consider when choosing an introductory programming language?	Read Learnable Programming
May 10th	What predicts success in CS? Should we try to predict success?	Read The Mystery of "b:=(b=false)" and MasterMind: a predictor of computer programming aptitude
May 17th	Which problems does this program solve? What roles can industry play in addressing K-12 computing education? What challenges does this program face?	Read Fostering Tech Talent in Schools
May 23rd	What place do coding bootcamps have in CS education? What is the difference between bootcamps and traditional degrees?	Please read an article on bootcamps.
May 31st	What types of outreach are other schools doing?	Read Georgia Computes! and look through The University of Texas at Austin CS Outreach page

(baby computer picture from here)