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Although context-based teaching and learning has been investigated extensively in science education, little is known regarding the use of contexts for teaching CS in secondary education. The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of contexts suitable for teaching algorithms and to investigate teachers' considerations regarding those contexts. This study examines teachers' practices and reasoning concerning the use of contexts and is based on explorative, empirical research. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with seven CS teachers and analyzed qualitatively. The results of this study reveal several characteristics of effective contexts for teaching algorithms and show teachers' ambitions to address the variation within the student population when selecting contexts that advance students' algorithmic thinking. The found characteristics may serve as recommendation for designing contexts. Development of teacher education and professionalization activities may benefit from the discussion of teachers' motives and concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent international efforts have focused on broadening opportunities for students to learn computer science (CS) in schools, prompting expansion of professional development (PD) programs for educators. But there is little research supporting the ongoing professional needs of computing teachers. This qualitative study examined how in-service CS teachers approached, learned, and anticipated teaching a hands-on electronic-textiles unit. Our findings illustrate that "problems of practice" from the classroom served as a compass to guide CS educators' learning in PD. We also share implications for key features of PD programs that can transform the pedagogical knowledge and classroom practices of experienced teachers. • Experienced CS educators seek PDs to address specific problems of practice from their classroom teaching. • Hands-on making inspires teachers to try new pedagogical strategies with their students. • Educators learn through problem-posing, critical assessment, exploring new options, and acquiring knowledge/skills in PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia implemented a new computer science curriculum in 2008. There was speculation that many computer science teachers did not possess sufficient knowledge of computational thinking needed to teach this subject. To investigate this topic, a quantitative research study was conducted with 55 male computer science teachers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Results of the study revealed that most of the computer science teachers had a low conceptual level of computational thinking, and some of the teachers had misconceptions about the exact nature of computational thinking. Findings indicated that computer science teachers did indeed need more training in what computational thinking means and how to teach this subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

> Context * The meaning and implications of "computational thinking" (CT) are only now starting to be clarified, and the applications of the Computer Science (CS) Unplugged approach are becoming clearer as research is appearing. Now is a good time to consider how these relate, and what the opportunities and issues are for teachers using this approach. > Problem * The goal here is to connect computational thinking explicitly to the CS Unplugged pedagogical approach, and to identify the context where Unplugged can be used effectively. > Method * We take a theoretical approach, selecting a representative sample of CS Unplugged activities and mapping them to CT concepts. > Results * The CS Unplugged activities map well onto commonly accepted CT concepts, although caution must be taken not to regard CS Unplugged as being a complete approach to CT education. > Implications * There is evidence that CS Unplugged activities have a useful role to help students and teachers engage with CT, and to support hands-on activities with digital devices. > Constructivist content * A constructivist approach to teaching computer science concepts can be particularly valuable at present because the public (and many teachers who are likely to have to become engaged with the subject) do not see CS as something they are likely to understand. Providing a clear way for anyone to construct this knowledge for themselves gives an opportunity to empower them when it might otherwise have been regarded as a domain that is open to only a select few. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science (CS) Principles course increases the need for quality CS teachers and thus the need for professional development (PD). This article presents the results of a 2-year study investigating how teachers teaching the AP CS Principles course for the first time used online PD material. Our results showed that the teaching and computing background of teachers had a significant impact on the teachers' need for and use of online PD material. More specifically, novice CS teachers needed and used PD for developing their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Non-CS teachers needed and used PD materials emphasizing content knowledge. Experienced CS teachers believed they had little need for PD even though they were teaching a new course. Our study makes three recommendations for designing effective online PD for CS teachers: match PD to teachers' background, align PD with the course curriculum, and use effective motivational design to enhance teacher engagement. (Keywords: computer science education, online professional development, K-12, AP computer science principles course) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at how computational thinking (CT) is a key skill in the 21st century that should be taught in technology and engineering classrooms. The International Society for Technology in Education and the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) have provided the definition of the CS. It focuses on integrating conceptual understanding of CT, rather than a skills-based focus on coding in order to broaden the role that technology and engineering play in education.

The fast evolution of multicore processors makes it difficult for professors to offer computer architecture courses with updated contents. To deal with this shortcoming that could discourage students, the most appropriate solution is a research-oriented course based on current microprocessor industry trends. Additionally, we also seek to improve the students’ skills by applying active learning methodologies, where teachers act as guiders and resource providers while students take the responsibility for their learning. In this paper, we present the Advanced Multicore Architecture (AMA) course, which follows a research-oriented approach to introduce students in architectural breakthroughs and uses active learning methodologies to enable students to develop practical research skills such as critical analysis of research papers or communication abilities. To this end five main activities are used: (i) lectures dealing with key theoretical concepts, (ii) paper review & discussion, (iii) research-oriented practical exercises, (iv) lab sessions with a state-of-the-art multicore simulator, and (v) paper presentation. An important part of all these activities is driven by active learning methodologies. Special emphasis is put on the practical side by allocating 40% of the time to labs and exercises. This work also includes an assessment study that analyzes both the course contents and the used methodology (both of them compared to other courses). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer Science students must understand parallel and distributed computing (PDC) concepts to be effective computer scientists in the workforce, as reflected in the 2013 ACM Curriculum guidelines. Significant work has been done by CS educators to develop curriculum materials and increase access to parallel compute environments (PCEs) by leveraging and clustering a plethora of small multicore systems. Even with these resources there is a barrier to entry for students to use PCEs, namely the unfamiliar and complex system software ecosystem of modern PCEs. The OnRamp project lowers that barrier to entry for exploring PDC concepts on a variety of PCEs by abstracting away the details of interacting with the system and focuses the students’ attention on the PDC concepts. This top-down approach is in contrast to existing approaches involving all aspects of PDC necessarily being taught before the key concepts can be explored. In this paper we discuss the motivation, design and implementation of OnRamp, a general purpose web portal for supporting the exploration of PDC concepts that harnesses the existing educational resources created by the CS education community. It coaches students through interactive modules that teach them about PDC concepts and PCEs while allowing them to launch parallel applications from day one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By introducing parallelism in introductory programming courses, all computer science students can receive a basic understanding of this crucial topic. Such an early introduction, however, has many challenges. This paper first presents a fall 2013 comparison of two Computer Science I (CS1) sections, leading to a conclusion emphasizing the importance of devoting sufficient time to a sufficiently small set of parallelism topics. Six additional CS1 sections are then considered, offered from spring 2014 through spring 2016 by three different instructors. Five of these removed coverage of Java thread programming due to challenges found in fall 2013, only to show measurably reduced effectiveness of the parallelism module. Thus a new thread programming integration strategy is presented, as done in spring 2016. This strategy includes active out-of-class activities that split the disparate challenges of Java thread programming into distinct exercises. Results demonstrate improved student interest and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on college programs that offered philosophy students courses in computer education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid integration of technology into our professional and personal lives has left many education systems ill-equipped to deal with the influx of people seeking computing education. To improve computing education, we are applying techniques that have been developed for other procedural fields. The present study applied such a technique, subgoal labeled worked examples, to explore whether it would improve programming instruction. The first two experiments, conducted in a laboratory, suggest that the intervention improves undergraduate learners’ problem-solving performance and affects how learners approach problem-solving. The third experiment demonstrates that the intervention has similar, and perhaps stronger, effects in an online learning environment with in-service K-12 teachers who want to become qualified to teach computing courses. By implementing this subgoal intervention as a tool for educators to teach themselves and their students, education systems could improve computing education and better prepare learners for an increasingly technical world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there has been a remarkable interest to make computer science a core K-12 academic subject in the United States, there is a shortage of K-12 computer science teachers to successfully implement computer sciences courses in schools. In order to enhance computer science teacher capacity, training programs have been offered through teacher professional development. In this study, the main goal was to systematically review the studies regarding computer science professional development to understand the scope, context, and effectiveness of these programs in the past decade (2004–2014). Based on 21 journal articles and conference proceedings, this study explored: (1) Type of professional development organization and source of funding, (2) professional development structure and participants, (3) goal of professional development and type of evaluation used, (4) specific computer science concepts and training tools used, (5) and their effectiveness to improve teacher practice and student learning. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article describes the importance that high school computer science teachers place on a teachers’ professional learning community designed around an inquiry- and equity-oriented approach for broadening participation in computing. Using grounded theory to analyze four years of teacher surveys and interviews from the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) program in the Los Angeles Unified School District, this article describes how participating in professional development activities purposefully aimed at fostering a teachers’ professional learning community helps ECS teachers make the transition to an inquiry-based classroom culture and break professional isolation. This professional learning community also provides experiences that challenge prevalent deficit notions and stereotypes about which students can or cannot excel in computer science. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To support teachers to implement Computer Science curricula into classrooms from the very first year of school, teachers, schools and organisations seek quality curriculum resources to support implementation and teacher professional development. Until now, many Computer Science resources and outreach initiatives have targeted K-12 school-age children, with the intention to engage children and increase interest, rather than to formally teach concepts and skills. What is the educational quality of existing Computer Science resources and to what extent are they suitable for classroom learning and teaching? In this paper, an assessment framework is presented to evaluate the quality of online Computer Science resources. Further, a semi-systematic review of available online Computer Science resources was conducted to evaluate resources available for classroom learning and teaching and to identify gaps in resource availability, using the Australian curriculum as a case study analysis. The findings reveal a predominance of quality resources, however, a number of critical gaps were identified. This paper provides recommendations and guidance for the development of new and supplementary resources and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To address the special challenges of teaching computer science, adequate development of teachers’ competencies during their education is extremely important. In particular, pedagogical content knowledge and teachers’ beliefs and motivational orientations play an important role in effective teaching. This research field has been sparsely investigated up to now and there exists no consistent competency model for teaching computer science in Germany. Therefore, this paper describes the development of competency in the areas of pedagogical content knowledge, teachers’ beliefs, and motivational orientations with regard to computer science. Competency-relevant factors for teaching computer science are theoretically derived and concretely formulated with the help of expert interviews conducted according to the critical incident technique and analyzed using techniques of qualitative content analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Computer science education is acknowledged to play an important role in schools. The development of a curriculum needs to be informed by knowledge of concepts that are central to the discipline of computer science. Taking a cross-contextual approach, this study compares the combinations of content and process concepts identified as important in the context of professors (university educators) with those considered relevant in the context of teachers (high schools educators). The results can inform the evaluation of pre- and in-service training programs for computer science teachers and the evolution of computer science curricula for computer science teacher educators. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A competency profile for teachers of Computer Science in Cameroonian secondary education - In 1998, the Cameroonian government decided to introduce Computer Science as a school subject. To implement this decision, it began to train teachers of Computer Science according to the same training model used for teachers of other disciplines. Despite the consensus that seems to be emerging from the scientific community regarding the need to give priority to a cross-disciplinary use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in primary and secondary education, some countries, such as Cameroon, have opted to teach Computer Science. While such a political choice might in principle appear to be inappropriate for the development of students' ICT skills, the article shows that it nevertheless introduces teachers into the system who have a predisposition to act as catalysts for the pedagogical integration of ICT. Such a development could occur provided these teachers are trained in a range of additional skills - those proposed in the article - which would enable them to contribute effectively. If this approach were implemented, sub-Saharan countries such as Cameroon would, in their Computer Science teachers, have access to human resources capable of quickly generalising the cross-disciplinary use of ICT in the education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to a program reform in Israel, experienced CS high-school teachers faced the need to master and teach a new programming paradigm. This situation served as an opportunity to explore the relationship between teachers' content knowledge (CK) and their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This article focuses on three case studies, with emphasis on one of them. Using observations and interviews, we examine how the teachers, we observed taught and what development of their teaching occurred as a result of their teaching experience, if at all. Our findings suggest that this situation creates a new hybrid state of teachers, which we term “regressed experts.” These teachers incorporate in their professional practice some elements typical of novices and some typical of experts. We also found that these teachers' experience, although established when teaching a different CK, serve as a leverage to improve their knowledge and understanding of aspects of the new content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tradition of All-Russian meetings of teachers, which was laid in the beginning of the last century, acquires now new actualite. Meetings of teachers today are a tool aimed not only at consolidating efforts of high school and universities but also at resuming status of teachers and incorporating school into processes of innovation development of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vaníček's target article presents a pilot study of an introductory course of programming. In my commentary I argue that teachers will be a key factor of success if the pilot program is implemented in a top-down way. Other important issue are the differentiation between children with different abilities while they go through the tasks, and the continuation of learning programming after the entry-level course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]