How CS Teachers Change? The Story from Teachers (original) (raw)
Related papers
What makes CS teachers change?: factors influencing CS teachers' adoption of curriculum innovations
Computer Science (CS) education researchers hope their research has real impact ,on teaching ,practices. Developers of innovative curricula and tools for CS education want teachers to adopt ,their new,approaches. What convinces ,a CS teacher to change ,and adopt something ,new—or ,not? This paper ,explores factors that influence CS teachers’ adoption ,and ,change. We studied ,our workshop,participants to determine ,factors influencing ,their decision on whether ,to adopt ,a new ,CS curriculum. The results from our study indicate that multiple factors, some surprising, influence CS teachers’ adoption. Our findings suggest that teacher excitement in a new approach drives adoption, while more organizational or social issues inhibit adoption. Categories and Subject Descriptors K.3.2 [Computers and Education]: Computer and Information Science Education–computer science education. General Terms
2008
This study explores factors that influence teachers’ adoption of curriculum innovations in the context of one specific innovation—Contextualized Computing Curricula. From a teacher-oriented perspective, we propose a theoretical model to represent hypotheses regarding potential adoption factors with an emphasis on the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes that teachers hold about curriculum, students and themselves. We conducted a pilot study to examine those proposed factors through three summer workshops in 2007. We use the results of the pilot study to extend and refine the proposed model. Our findings indicate that teacher excitement in the new course drives adoption, while systemic issues inhibit adoption. This model might potentially provide a basis for researchers to devise effective strategies for removing barriers that prevent teachers’ adoption, and thereby foster the dissemination of innovations emerging from the learning sciences community. School of Interactive Computing Col...
Expanding computer science education in schools: understanding teacher experiences and challenges
The increased push for teaching computer science (CS) in schools in the United States requires training a large number of new K-12 teachers. The current e orts to increase the number of CS teachers have predominantly focused on training teachers from other content areas. In order to support these beginning CS teachers, we need to better understand their experiences and challenges encountered in the classroom. This study investigated U.S. CS teachers’ perspectives on the demands of teaching computer science and support needed to ensure quality teaching. Results suggested that teachers face a number of challenges, including isolation, lack of adequate computer science background, and limited professional development resources.
2013 Learning and Teaching in Computing and Engineering, 2013
It took me almost 35 years with a diversity of teachers, instructional methods and students (20 years of teaching) to realize that the problem of teaching and learning was far more complex than passing my earlier experiences on to my students or embracing exemplary teaching. During my university studies, a search for the foundations of knowledge began. Commonly, concepts in Physics were offered, "as they are" without references or concern for their origins or historical evolution. I specifically remember how a course in the History of Physics opened my eyes to the importance of societal context, i.e. how concepts used could be seen as products of their time and the people behind them. As an upper secondary school teacher, I worked hard to implement these ideas as they (to me) seemed rich and useful to learning and understanding. When working as a project manager for a vocational education in data and telecommunication a few years later, I learnt from experience that "softer concepts" (context, culture, values and norms) matter to education. While teaching computer programming in different contexts I found myself teaching differently in different context, and this became an important experience. Some years later, after my Master thesis, the issue appeared in a new guise. I was heavily involved in instructional design for learning, based on collaboration. The idea was to design collaborative learning environments in computer programming and databases, for teachers and students. The aim was to use IT/ICT to enhance the learning situation in classrooms and on-line. In the search for coteachers, we found that applicants commonly expressed interest, but our intention to collaborate with schools became almost impossible to achieve. An experience that set the wheels in motion for this study.
A Sustainable Model for High-School Teacher Preparation in Computer Science
2019
In this Research to Practice paper, we present a sustainable model for teaching training in Computer Science. To address issues related to self-efficacy and teacher preparation, we started a formal program (IDoCode) that not only provides teacher training through the academic year, but also provides teachers the opportunity to obtain a Masters in STEM Education degree or a Graduate Certificate in Computer Science Teacher Endorsement.Through our program, we have shown that teachers feel more confident in their ability to teach computer science courses such as Exploring CS, AP CS Principles, and the Java-based AP CS A, as well as leading the students in a capstone project. In this paper, we present a sustainable approach to make a cultural change in the landscape of Computer Science education in the state of Idaho. We discuss various factors including working with the State Board of Education, local software companies, the university, and other invested partners to help CS courses in ...
The use of evidence in the change making process of computer science educators
2011
This paper explores the issue of what kind of evidence triggers changes in the teaching practice of Computer Science educators, and how educators evaluate the effectiveness of those changes. We interviewed 14 Computer Science instructors from three different institutions. Our study indicates that changes are mostly initiated from instructors' intuition, informal discussion with students, and anecdotal evidence.
Stories of change: How educators change their practice
Innovative tools and teaching practices often fail to be adopted by educators in the field, despite evidence of their effectiveness. Naïve models of educational change assume this lack of adoption arises from failure to properly disseminate promising work, but evidence suggests that dissemination via publication is simply not effective. Instead of studying the adoption or rejection of a particular intervention, this paper turns the problem around. We asked educators to describe changes they had made to their teaching practice and analyzed the resulting stories to learn more about: the kinds of changes being made, their motivations for changing their practice, and the means by which they learned of pedagogical innovations. Of the 99 change stories analyzed, only three demonstrate an active search for new practices or materials on the part of teachers, and published materials were consulted in just eight of the stories. Most of the changes occurred locally, without input from outside sources, or involved only personal interaction with other educators. These results have important implications for educational developers, or researchers wishing to propagate information about new teaching materials or techniques. Index Terms-Change of practice, Change stories, Sharing practice, Education research 102 stories were collected over four weeks in February and March 2011, of which 99 were usable. Stories were gathered via a webpage, and subsequently face-to-face, both individually and via a "story-circle" held at the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) Symposium in March 2011. Each contributor provided a story of their change, gave it a title, and attached keywords. Some contributors added several stories. Additionally, some demographic information was collected 1 http://www.sharingpractice.ac.uk
A model for improving secondary CS education
ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 2005
This paper describes how the Institute for Computing Education (ICE) at Georgia Tech is trying to improve the state of computer science education in secondary schools in Georgia. ICE is a partnership between the Georgia Department of Education and the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. The goals for this partnership are to increase the number and quality of computer science teachers and increase the number, quality, and diversity of computer science students. One specific goal is to increase the number of students taking the CS-AP course. We believe that this partnership can serve as a model for other states.
Journal of Computer Science Integration, 2018
In this article, we use evidence to describe seven key lessons from a four-year district-wide computer science implementation project between Howard University and the District of Columbia Public Schools. These lessons are: (a) Get to know the school counselors (and other key personnel); (b) Expect personnel changes and strategic reorganization within school districts; (c) Be innovative to build and maintain community; (d) Be flexible when developing instruments and curricula; (e) Maintain a firm commitment to equity; (f) Develop tiered content and prepare to make philosophical adjustments; and (g) Identify markers of sustainability. We also include original curricula materials including the Computer Science Course Evaluation and the Computational Thinking Survey. The seven lessons and curricula materials provided in this study can be used to inform the development of future computer science researcher-practitioner partnerships.