9 research outputs found

    Investigating K-12 Computing Education in Four African Countries (Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda)

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    As K-12 computing education becomes more established throughout the world, there is an increasing focus on accessibility for all, whether in a particular country or setting or in areas of the world that may not yet have computing established. This is primarily articulated as an equity issue. The recently developed capacity for, access to, participation in, and experience of computer science education (CAPE) Framework is one way of demonstrating stages and dependencies and understanding relative equity, taking into consideration the disparities between sub-populations. While there is existing research that covers the state of computing education and equity issues, it is mostly in high-income countries; there is minimal research in the context of low-middle-income countries like the sub-Saharan African countries

    An International Pilot Study of K-12 Teachers’Computer Science Self-Esteem

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    Computer Science (CS) is a new subject area for many K-12 teachersaround the world, requiring new disciplinary knowledge and skills.Teacher social-behavioral factors (e.g. self-esteem) have been foundto impact learning and teaching, and a key part of CS curriculumimplementation will need to ensure teachers feel confident to de-liver CS. However, studies about CS teacher self-esteem are lacking.This paper presents an analysis of publicly available data (n=219)from a pilot study using a Teacher CS Self-Esteem scale. Analy-sis revealed significant differences, including 1) females reportedsignificantly lower CS self-esteem than males, 2) primary teachersreported lower levels of CS self-esteem than secondary teachers, 3)those with no CS teaching experience reported significantly lowerCS self-esteem, 4) teachers with 0-3 years experience had a neg-ative CS self-esteem, but after four years, teachers had a positiveCS self-esteem, and 5) teachers who lived further from metropol-itan areas and in some countries reported lower CS self-esteem.These initial findings suggest a pressing need for future researchto look further into teacher CS self-esteem to inform teacher CSprofessional development

    Evaluating the New Secondary Informatics Curriculum in The Netherlands:The Teachers’ Perspective

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    Since the introduction of Informatics as an elective course in secondary education in the Netherlands in 1998, the implemented curriculum is being regularly monitored. The results of the large 2013 secondary Informatics teachers survey contributed to the revision of the Informatics curriculum. This revised curriculum came into effect in 2019. In line with regular curriculum monitoring practices, the Netherlands Institute for Curriculum Development is polling the secondary Informatics teachers to understand their views and opinions on the intended curriculum and to learn about their implemented curriculum The results indicate that the majority of the respondents find the new Informatics curriculum better than the old one and that it offers a solid foundation for their teaching practice. A minority either misses some content in the curriculum or considers it overloaded with content, and some find it not to be up to date. Furthermore, the results of this survey are compared to the results of the 2013 survey to assess to what extent the new Informatics curriculum meets the teachers’ needs and recommendations better.</p

    Developing an Inclusive K-12 Outreach Model

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    This paper outlines the longitudinal development of a K-12 outreachmodel, to promote Computer Science in Ireland. Over a three-yearperiod, it has been piloted to just under 9700 K-12 students fromalmost every county in Ireland. The model consists of a two-hourcamp that introduces students to a range of Computer Sciencetopics: addressing computing perceptions, introduction to codingand exploration of computational thinking. The model incorporateson-site school delivery and is available at no cost to any interestedschool across Ireland. The pilot study so far collected over 3400surveys (pre- and post-outreach delivery).Schools from all over Ireland self-selected to participate, includ-ing male only, female only and mixed schools. The no-cost natureof the model meant schools deemed disadvantaged , to privatefee-paying schools participated. Initial findings are very positive,including the balance of male and female participants, where in the2017-18 academic year it was 56:44 and in 2019-20 (to date), it is35:65 respectively. Once the model is validated and tweaked (basedon survey data), the model will be published (open access) for otherinstitutions to implement the model locally. In addition, the authorsintend to link schools (that the team have worked with over thethree years) with local institutions, thus developing a sustainableecosystem for the program to continue. This paper describes themodel structure and outlines early finding

    Promoting a Growth Mindset in CS1: Does One Size Fit All? A Pilot Study

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    This paper describes a pilot intervention conducted in CS1, in theacademic year of 2016-2017. The intervention was based on thework of Dweck, promoting a growth Mindset in an effort to in-crease performance in introductory programming. The study alsoexamined data from a previous year (as a control group) to compareand contrast the results. Multiple factors related to programmingperformance were recorded with the control and treatment group,which were measured at multiple intervals throughout the course,to monitor changes as the pilot intervention was implemented.This study found a significant increase in programming perfor-mance when the intervention was deployed. However, althoughperformance increased for the treatment group, the average Mindsetdid not significantly change towards a growth Mindset (replicatingthe findings of Cutts et al, 2010). To further explore this finding,a preliminary deeper investigation using k-means clustering wascarried out. The investigation found that the intervention promoteda growth Mindset for some student profiles and a fixed Mindset forothers. This finding is important for educators considering interven-tion development or implementation of Mindset, and demonstratesthat a Mindset intervention may not be suitable for all learners

    An International Study Piloting the MEasuring TeacheR Enacted Computing Curriculum (METRECC) Instrument

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    As the discipline of K-12 computer science (CS) education evolves, international comparisons of curriculum and teaching provide valuable information for policymakers and educators. Previous academic analyses of K-12 CS intended and enacted curriculum has been conducted via curriculum analyses, country reports, experience reports, and case studies, with K-12 CS comparisons distinctly lacking teacher input. This report presents the process of an international Working Group to develop, pilot, review and test validity and reliability of the MEasuring TeacheR Enacted Computing Curriculum (METRECC) instrument to survey teachers in K-12 schools about their implementation of CS curriculum to understand pedagogy, practice, resources and experiences in classrooms around the world. The Working Group reviewed and analysed pilot data from 244 teachers across seven countries (Australia, England, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Scotland and the United States). We analysed the pilot results (n=244) and applied four validity tests: face validity, concurrent validity, population validity, sampling validity and construct validity, in addition to a focus group to further revised the instrument. This report presents the pilot results and outcomes of validity testing, as well as revisions made to the instrument. The resulting METRECC tool combines a country report template and a teacher survey that will provide K-12 teachers with a means to communicate their experience enacting CS curriculum. National and regional policymakers can use METRECC data to inform iterative curriculum revision and implementation. We provide open access to the METRECC instrument and data set

    The Impact of the English Computing Curriculum on Young People as Delivered at Key Stage 3

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    In 2014 the UK became one of the first countries to formally include computing in its National Curriculum Framework. The new Computing Curriculum had a broader focus, including fundamentals of computer science, computer programming and digital literacy in order to prepare young people for the digital economy and future digital world. This doctoral research focuses on the impact of the new computing curriculum on young people at Key Stage 3, particularly using three core themes of the computing curriculum: digital economy, digital literacy, computational thinking. The analysis used these core themes with thematic coding to answer the research question: To what extent do the young people subject to the English computing curriculum (as delivered at Key Stage 3) and their teachers, feel it prepares young people for a digital economy and the future digital world, specifically in terms of being digital literate and being able to think computationally? The research fieldwork was conducted across 3 secondary schools in the northwest of England and comprised of qualitative group interviews with 54 young people and extended individual interviews with 9 teachers. This research found that young people did not feel the computing curriculums was adequately preparing them for the digital economy – specifically they did not feel they were learning to be digitally literate and considered that computational thinking was something that people were either naturally good at or not. This thesis contributes to the field of Computing Education by being one of the few studies to use qualitative methods to understand young people’s experience of computing education

    The Impact of the English Computing Curriculum on Young People as Delivered at Key Stage 3

    Get PDF
    In 2014 the UK became one of the first countries to formally include computing in its National Curriculum Framework. The new Computing Curriculum had a broader focus, including fundamentals of computer science, computer programming and digital literacy in order to prepare young people for the digital economy and future digital world. This doctoral research focuses on the impact of the new computing curriculum on young people at Key Stage 3, particularly using three core themes of the computing curriculum: digital economy, digital literacy, computational thinking. The analysis used these core themes with thematic coding to answer the research question: To what extent do the young people subject to the English computing curriculum (as delivered at Key Stage 3) and their teachers, feel it prepares young people for a digital economy and the future digital world, specifically in terms of being digital literate and being able to think computationally? The research fieldwork was conducted across 3 secondary schools in the northwest of England and comprised of qualitative group interviews with 54 young people and extended individual interviews with 9 teachers. This research found that young people did not feel the computing curriculums was adequately preparing them for the digital economy – specifically they did not feel they were learning to be digitally literate and considered that computational thinking was something that people were either naturally good at or not. This thesis contributes to the field of Computing Education by being one of the few studies to use qualitative methods to understand young people’s experience of computing education
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