Adoption of Computer Science in NZ schools

In 2011, Programming and Computer Science standards were made available as part of NCEA in New Zealand high schools. Because little guidance and professional development was available initially, teachers have found it challenging to present the content effectively to their students. In response to this, several resources and professional development opportunities have been made available, including the widely used Computer Science Field Guide for Computer Science, and several programming resources specific to the new standards. In this paper we outline the deployment of the new standards and supporting material, and look at the uptake of the new standards over the first three years that they were phased in. This reveals increasing participation at schools, and higher enrolments at university as a flow-on effect. The introduction of Computer Science has also helped to address perception and stereotypes about the industry, with high achievement by female students, although participation rates are not ideal

Formación docente en computación: el caso del programa Exploring Computer Sciences de la Universidad de Oregon

Este artículo analiza un programa de formación docente continua que tiene más de una década de duración en los Estados Unidos. El propósito de este estudio de caso es ofrecer aportes que permitan pensar criterios y estrategias para la formación de los docentes a partir de los resultados de este programa. Se realizó un estudio etnográfico a través de una estancia en el curso de capacitación docente que ofrece el programa por 40hs. A partir de las entrevistas, observaciones y análisis documental se reconstruyó la propuesta del curso.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Formación Docente en Robótica

Este trabajo presenta una propuesta didáctica basada en proyectos diseñada para que docentes de primaria y secundaria sin experiencia previa en robótica educativa, puedan aprender sobre componentes básicos de hardware y su relación con el software en un curso de dos meses de duración con 4 clases virtuales y 3 presenciales. El curso es parte de una Especialización en Programación de dos años de duración. Analizamos los principales aspectos de la propuesta y los resultados en términos de las producciones que lograron los docentes y sus valoraciones del curso'

Preparation and testing of computer science teachers’ continuing education questionnaire

Antud bakalaureusetöö eesmärgiks on ettevalmistada ja katsetada küsitlust, millega saaks uurida informaatikaõpetajate arvamusi ja soove täiendkoolituste kohta. Töö raames saadeti pilootküsitlus välja 15 informaatikaõpetajale. Vastuste põhjal analüüsiti õpetajate arusaamist küsimustikust ja antakse soovitusi, kuidas võiks tulevikus küsimustikku parandada.The purpose of this thesis is to prepare and test a questionnaire, that could be used to study computer science teachers’ opinions and expectations/wishes of continuing education. For this a pilot questionnaire was sent out to 15 computer science teachers. Based on the teachers’ answers the understandings of the questions were analysed; and recommendations for improving the questionnaire were given

Computational Thinking Unplugged

La idea de pensamiento computacional desenchufado (Computational thinking unplugged) hace referencia a un conjunto de actividades que se elaboran para fomentar en los niños habilidades que pueden ser evocadas después, para favorecer el pensamiento computacional. Estas actividades están pensadas y diseñadas para ser incluidas en las primeras etapas de desarrollo cognitivo (educación infantil, primer tramo de la educación primaria, juegos en casa con los padres y los amigos, etc.). Las habilidades están pensadas para que puedan ser evocadas en otros ciclos y niveles educativos, en la educación secundaria, en la formación técnica, en la profesional o en la educación universitaria incluso. Las actividades se suelen hacer sin ordenadores y sin pantallas móviles, con fichas, cartulinas, juegos de sala de clase o juegos de patio, juguetes mecánicos, etc. En este trabajo se pone de relieve que hay una serie de datos, ideas y circunstancias que hacen posible ahora, y no antes, que se implemente el pensamiento computacional desenchufado. Por último, describimos actividades, iniciativas y experiencias que se están desarrollando ya, y hacemos unas propuestas de actividades y de sus guías para profesores y cuidadores de preescolar.The idea of computational thinking unplugged refers to a set of activities that are developed to encourage children skills that can be recalled later, to promote computational thinking. These activities are designed to be included in the early stages of cognitive development (early childhood education, the first stage of primary education, games at home with parents and friends, etc.). The skills are designed so that they can be evoked in other stages. In secondary education, in technical training, in professional or even higher education. The activities are usually done without computers and mobile screens, with cards, cards, classroom games or playground games, mechanical toys, etc. In this paper, it is highlighted that there is a series of data, ideas and circumstances that make it possible now, and not before, that unplugged computational thinking is implemented. Finally, we describe activities, initiatives and experiences that are already being developed, and we make proposals for activities and their guides for preschool teachers and caregivers

Computational Thinking in Education: Where does it fit? A systematic literary review

Computational Thinking (CT) has been described as an essential skill which everyone should learn and can therefore include in their skill set. Seymour Papert is credited as concretising Computational Thinking in 1980 but since Wing popularised the term in 2006 and brought it to the international community's attention, more and more research has been conducted on CT in education. The aim of this systematic literary review is to give educators and education researchers an overview of what work has been carried out in the domain, as well as potential gaps and opportunities that still exist. Overall it was found in this review that, although there is a lot of work currently being done around the world in many different educational contexts, the work relating to CT is still in its infancy. Along with the need to create an agreed-upon definition of CT lots of countries are still in the process of, or have not yet started, introducing CT into curriculums in all levels of education. It was also found that Computer Science/Computing, which could be the most obvious place to teach CT, has yet to become a mainstream subject in some countries, although this is improving. Of encouragement to educators is the wealth of tools and resources being developed to help teach CT as well as more and more work relating to curriculum development. For those teachers looking to incorporate CT into their schools or classes then there are bountiful options which include programming, hands-on exercises and more. The need for more detailed lesson plans and curriculum structure however, is something that could be of benefit to teachers

Transitions in teacher education and professional identities: proceedings

The University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, was the host for the 2014 Annual Conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE), which took place in August, from the 25th to the 27th. The Conference focused on Transitions in Teacher Education and Professional Identities looked at the transitions in teacher education and analysed different experiences in professional identity of (student) teachers from an international perspective. Three keywords may be identified: challenges in teaching, dilemmas in teacher education and in teacher educators’ role and current trends that are shaping teacher education in different contexts. Similar dilemmas and even contradictions have been identified in different settings with different modes of government intervention in teacher education in which content, structure and duration are also diverse but with similar features. Another key theme discussed at the Conference was the complexity of the concept of identity and also the contested nature of the transitions: transitions for what? How? Why? These transitions and shifts in teacher education and professional identities need to be examined within the context of current policies but also in the light of the complexities and contradictions of teaching as a profession. Teacher educators are also facing transitions in teacher education curricula but also regarding their own identities. These are complex processes that may include resistance and turbulence because transitions may be troublesome for many reasons. In this regard context and language matter but also the kinds of policies and practices that exist within teacher education. There are questions that remain unanswered. However, despite the differences, the dilemmas, and even the contradictions, teacher education can make a difference in professional identity development as was the case of successful experiences that have been described in the Conference

Using elementary patterns to analyse Scratch programs.

Teaching programming to school children is a challenging task, and this re- search contributes in two dimensions. First, it explores issues around “code smells,” such as object naming, long and repeated code, and unused and illogical code, in relation to block-based languages. Second, the suitability of “elementary patterns” as a potential teaching pedagogy to overcome the issues caused by code smells is investigated at a large scale. Elementary patterns such as Whether-or-Not, Alternative-Action, Linear-Search, and Loop-and-a- Half provide a structured approach to teaching programming using recommended practices based on experience gained through worked solutions. Elementary patterns are used as a benchmark in each of the studies re- ported in this thesis: finding code smells in students’ work, analysing the frequency of patterns in users’ projects, measuring progression in skills of Scratch users, the impact of remixing on learning, and evaluation of a selection of resources used for teaching programming. Millions of Scratch programs are analysed by software that reports on the various facets of the use of block-based languages, using programs posted to the online Scratch community as a sample. The results showed little use of modular approaches, infrequent use of variables and collections, and only very light usage of elementary patterns and programming elements in relation to problem solving in students’ work, even after a student has been program- ming in Scratch for many years. Remixing is one of the attractive features in Scratch that aims to support learning by collaboration, where students can take a copy of an existing project and develop it further themselves. The use of remixing was examined to evaluate if it leads to learning and plays any part in improving programming skills. There were no clear signs of progression in children’s depth of understanding with or without remixing. In principle the Scratch language can be used for students to explore elementary patterns, so we explore the teaching resources available in the community to see if they take advantage of this. We find that for novices, most resources covered only introductory ideas when evaluated as a means to teach the fundamentals of programming. This suggests a culture that has developed around Scratch, and potentially other block-based programming languages, that has led to them being regarded as a “toy” system and not taken seriously despite having the full power of programming. This does not necessarily mean that the programming that students do in Scratch is not worthwhile, but it gives some insight into how far most students progress, possibly moving to other languages to learn concepts that are nevertheless supported in Scratch

OnCreate and the virtual teammate: an analysis of online creative processes and remote collaboration

This paper explores research undertaken by a consortium of 10 universities from across Europe as part of an EU Erasmus Strategic Partnership project called OnCreate. Recent research and experiences prove the importance of the design and implementation of online courses that are learner-centred, include collaboration and integrate rich use of media in authentic environments. The OnCreate project explores the specific challenges of creative processes in such environments. The first research phase comprises a comparative qualitative analysis of collaboration practices in design-related study programmes at the ten participating universities. A key outcome of this research was in identifying the shortcomings of the hierarchical role models of established Learning Management Systems (such as Moodle or Blackboard) and the tendency towards evolving 'mash-up' environments to support creative online collaboration