…have plans to introduce a CS Principles course at your school (either K-12 or higher ed)?
…are members of CSTA?
…are submitting a CE21 grant this April?
CS Principles Overview
Demand for Computer Science Grads
Demand for Computer Science Grads
National Job Outlook
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)
$64,210 is the average starting salary for computer science degrees in the class of 2011 (among highest starting salaries); 3.7% increase over 2010 offers
Computer Science tops list of best major for jobs with the highest number of job offers per major (2.8 job offers per major!)
A “Why Study Computer Science” set of outreach slides with additional information like this is available at
In the last few years the commitment to improving computer science education has resulted in pockets of excellence:
New tools (Alice, Scratch, Kodu, App Inventor, …)
New Curricula (Exploring Computer Science, Media Computation…)
New ways of thinking about equity and engagement
But in reality, AP is the only program that has national reach, support, and consequence (and sometimes state funding)
If we are going to achieve a true renaissance in CS education in K-12 we need to make both curriculum and policy changes at the state and national level
The Harsh Realities Chris Stephenson, CSTA President
Unless we increase the number of students taking high school CS, our enrollments will continue to languish at the post-secondary level (don’t let the recent bump fill you with false hope)
States are increasing the number of math and science credits students must have in order to graduate, reducing the chances that students can/will take elective courses such as computer science
In states where CS is part of Career and Technical Education, there are pressing certification questions.
Challenges with Current CS AP
One of College Board’s lowest participating exam
Very much a “Programming”-centered course, with much content covering syntax and semantics of a specific language (Java)
Deep and less broad
Full range of impact of computing could be missed, as well as exciting contexts to motivate students
Many in-service teachers lack content knowledge to teach current AP exam
+: Alabama has over 4 times the national average of African American students participating
The Importance of the Principles Effort
From Chris Stephenson, CSTA President:
There is no better time than now, and to fail in this commitment is to fail permanently as a discipline in the K-12 system
As a community, we too often begin at what is wrong and tear down, rather than figure out what is right and build up
The recent bump in enrollments at some colleges/universities is more than balanced by the closing of programs at others and this is no time to cut back on our efforts
We need a concerted and genuine commitment from all educators (K-16), all organizations, and all corporations to support the new CS Principles course and to work together to help get teachers ready with workshops, resources, standards, relationships
Initial Attestation Coverage From Amy Briggs, Middlebury College
“… the software industry is going to make more breakthroughs in these next 10 years than it's made in the last 30 … software is really going to transform not just what we think about as the computer industry, but the way that everything is done …”
Re-architecting the Internet
Harnessing parallelism
Quantum computing
Transforming all fields
of science and engineering
Wreckless
driving
Prosthetics / augmentation / access
Transforming the nation’s defense
Impact: Software is Everywhere
98% of all microprocessors control devices other than desktop computers
Initial planning during CS4HS summer workshop in 2011
Weekend AP training session
Bi-weekly email
Things that we felt were a success
Creativity Soared
Team Projects Highly Collaborative
Diversity
17 different majors across 29 students (first essay)
Broad interest from Freshman to Seniors
13 of 29 students were women or males from underrepresented populations
Sustainability
Strong interest on campus to offer again in Fall ’12
High School teachers in Alabama want help in pursuing an early adopter Pilot for 2012-2013
Things that did not work so well
Rushed to cover all CS Principles topics in a 3-hour course
Recruiting issues (temporary)
Big Data idea never finalized (but almost ready)
Four students dropped the course before midterm
Some team project ideas were unrealistic
1 case of cheating
Tendency to revert to programming
Future Principles Challenges
Common exam across multiple teaching approaches (Scratch, Alice, JavaScript)
Reaching the goal of 10k teachers who can cover the content of this material
Building the pathway from K-12 to higher ed course mappings (perhaps not so hard)
Our own Future Effort at UA….
Connection from App Inventor -> Java Bridge -> Standard Android SDK in Java
Through collaboration with A+ College Ready, we are proposing an idea that will train 50 new teachers to introduce CS Principles over the next three years (leading up to the first expected offering of the course)
Several in the audience have already committed interest to this
The new CS104 course will be a stable offering each Fall at UA
I am happy to share results from our Alabama Pilot (syllabus, exams, projects)
Questions on CS Principles?
Please note, I cannot speak for the College Board or the CS Principles PI’s, but glad to share ideas from my own experiences in teaching the 2011-2012 Pilot
App Inventor Introduction
Observation: Teaching CS – 1980s style
Typical example was text-based, trivial, and uninspiring
Motivation: New and Exciting Contexts
Media Computation
Programming in a more exciting context by manipulating multimedia artifacts
Robots
Lego NXT
2D/3D Animation Environments
Alice, Scratch, AgentSheets
Motivation: Newest Context
Teen smartphone penetration around 62%1
Novel ways to engage through the “creative hook” and tinkering
“I wish I had an app for that”
Social networking and crowd sourcing a daily activity among teens
Increasing adoption of smartphones in science and medical applications
