An Analysis of High School Computer Science Education (HSCSE)
Chris Chan | Chris Estreich | Andrew Parker | Avichal Garg
overview statistics factors solutions interviews international findings
Overview An introduction and high-level summary of our analysis.
Statistics A collection of telling statistics pertaining to the current state of HSCSE.
Factors The identification of 4 principal factors that affect the breadth and quality of HSCSE.
Solutions An synthesis of several proposed solutions that address the 4 contributing factors we identified.
Interviews A revelation of the real-world conceptions of HSCSE through the eyes of 2 ACM SIGCSE leaders/3 high school teachers.
International A juxtaposition of the status quo of our domestic programs with the established programs of several other countries.
Findings Summary of findings, and an expression of each of our personal feelings on the matter.

International Advances In CSE

To gain a better perspective on American computer science education, letís take a look at how other countries are approaching the issue.

Canada

        From 2001-2002, the province of Ontario updated its Technological Education curriculum for grades 11 and 12. Within this curriculum, an entire section is devoted to computer studies. This section is split into "Computer and Information Science" and "Computer Engineering." Within these subtopics, both general and specific expectations are listed. The following is a sample guideline for a Grade 11 course in Computer and Information Science:

General Expectations

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

ï Describe at least two problem-solving models;
ï Identify the stages in the software development process (problem definition, analysis, design, implementation, testing, and maintenance);
ï Explain standard control and data structures used in computer programs;
ï Identify on-line and off-line resources;
ï Explain the functions of basic computer components;

Specific Expectations

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

ï Define problems by identifying the expected output and necessary user input;
ï Define constants, variables, expressions, and assignment statements;
ï Describe the order in which arithmetic and logical operations are performed;
ï Explain the use of Boolean operators in compound expressions;
ï Define the structure of one and two dimensional arrays and associated concepts (e.g. subscripts, elements, bounds);

        This is just a snapshot of the requirements for the course. For more detail, check out the original curriculum of this course and the curriculum for many others (here).

        In addition, what makes their curriculum remarkable is that it emphasizes many aspects beyond mere programming, including ethics, social impact, career opportunities, and employability skills.

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Israel

        In 2000 the Israeli Center for Science and Technology Education presented "Machshava", a national center for high school computer science teachers.

Machshava revolves around five central themes:

ï Fostering professional leadership of CS teachers;
ï Helping create a professional community of CS teachers;
ï Supporting, assisting, and consulting academic CSE groups, local teacher centers, CS teacher educators and researchers;
ï Collecting and distributing CSE knowledge and experience;
ï Researching and evaluating the effectiveness of CS teachers needs and of the centerís activities;

Some examples of "Machshava" activities:

ï Organizing teacher meetings on specific high school curriculum issues;
ï Holding an annual teacher conference with plenary lectures, parallel sessions, discussions, posters, and a large exhibition of CSE materials;
ï Publishing "Hebetim", (Hebrew for "Aspects in CSE") a CSE journal for teachers that includes suggestions for classroom and laboratory activities, and interviews with leaders in the field;

        Additional Machshava information can be located (here).

        Note: as an aside, the question of why a country like Israel is able to institute such progressive organizations that further an educational agena that is shared by American educators. One interesting point to note is that Israel is quite unified by comparison to the United States; namely the lack of diversity in race, ethnicity, and religion afford a type of unilateralism that enables widespread support for such things as education and healthcare.

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Italy

        In 1980, the Italian Ministry of Education published a report entitled "Inquiry on Computer Science". This report identifies informatics (computer science) as a new discipline that deserves introduction in school curricula.

        In 1985, the ministry elaborated on the role of computer science in education. Namely, they asserted that computer science could be used in the following ways:

(a) As an instrument to automate the school administration;
(b) As an instrument to help teachers in their work or as a resource for students;
(c) As a knowledge amplifier to develop reasoning and problem solving skills for students;

        This same report also listed appropriate themes of computer science in high school curricula:

ï Problem analysis and formalization of its solutions (finding and representing algorithms);
ï Use of the data structures (knowledge of data type and structure including abstract data types);
ï coding the procedures in computer instructions (use of programming languages);
ï Knowing computer architecture and its logic organization;
ï Understanding social and economic consequences of automation;
ï Using specific software for computer assisted instruction and computer assisted learning (including the use of office and automation tools);

        To realize these ideas, the ministry commissioned the National Plan for Computer Science (PNI ñ National Plan for Informatics). This plan devoted itself to the revision of mathematics and physics curricula in the first two years of high school. These revised curricula would integrate computing knowledge and skills.

        Two years later, the ministry analyzed PNIís progress and determined that there might be other, more effective ways to introduce computing in the classroom rather than math and physics. The PNI soon ceased to function, but its curricula are still adopted by many classes today.

        Other Italian organizations that have contributed to high school computer science education include:

1. INDIRE (Library for Pedagogical Documentation) ñ freely offers accessible online databases on national and international pedagogical documents. It reports the results of research on computer use for helping handicapped students and organizing distance-training courses for in-service and just hired teachers.

2. INVALSI (Institute for European Education) ñ offers various online services for teachers' work and school evaluation.

3. ITD (Institute for Technologies in Education) ñ has an online database for didactic software that teachers can use simply by registering on its site. In 2000, ITD promoted TED (Technologies for Education), a yearly conference that provides a greater voice to school projects and to experiences involving computer use in education.

        To find out more about the state of Computer Science Education in Italy, check out the full SIGCSE article (here).

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Additional Resources

The Bermuda Project

        The Bermuda Computing Curriculum project is a collaborative effort by the Computer Science Department and the School of Education at Stanford University to develop a computing curriculum for Bermuda public schools that uses programming as a central theme. The curriculum development effort has four components: content definition, pedagogical design, professional development, and student assessment.

http://bermuda.stanford.edu

South Africa

        See what Chris Stephenson means when she describes South Africa as making great strides in computer science education. The following site contains links to a myriad of South African websites that provide educational software, teacher training, and informational technology resources.

http://www.marques.co.za/newwww/sites.asp?MainCatID=14&SitesID=218&AreaID=&PNum=1

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