High School Computer Science Research Articles

Democratizing computer science knowledge: transforming the face of computer science through public high school education

Despite the fact that computer science (CS) is the driver of technological innovations across all disciplines and aspects of our lives, including participatory media, high school CS too commonly fails to incorporate the perspectives and concerns of low-income students of color. This article describes a partnership program – Exploring Computer Science (ECS) – that directly counters this problem in our nation's second largest school district. With a mission of democratizing CS learning, we argue that despite the constraints of working within public schools, it is imperative to do so. We discuss the ECS program based on inquiry, culturally relevant curriculum, and equity-oriented pedagogy. We describe two ECS-affiliated projects that highlight the importance of authorship, purpose, and agency for student learning and engagement: DietSens using mobile technology to study community health, and a project in which students create video games about social issues. Our work offers a counter-narrative to those who have written off the possibilities of working within public schools and a debunking of the too widespread myth within our educational system that females and students of color are inherently uninterested in rigorous CS learning.

Status update

Many countries are engaged in efforts to revamp their high school computer science curricula. This paper touches briefly on the state of affairs with high school CS in Canada, Israel, India, and New Zealand. Each country has different issues to address in implementing a concepts-rich high school computer science curriculum. The paper then reviews the recent report from the United Kingdom, Shut Down or Restart? The Way Forward for Computing in the UK Schools .

Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Teaching Material

The scope of this article is to understand to what extent Computer Science teachers can find support for their Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in teaching material. We report the results of a study in which PCK is used as framework to develop a research instrument to examine three high school computer science textbooks, with special focus on programming. PCK is analyzed in this study in its two components: pedagogical knowledge (PK) and content knowledge (CK). The results of the textbooks have been compared with the results of a previous study, in which experienced teachers from various countries were involved in semi-structured interviews to portray the PCK of programming for secondary school. Our expectations to find textbooks relatively strong on the CK, but weak on the PK aspect, is confirmed by the results.

Looking at Secondary Teacher Preparation Through the Lens of Computer Science

Teaching computer science (CS) in high schools, rather than just programming or even computer literacy, is important as a means of introducing students to the true nature of CS, and enhancing their problem-solving skills. Since teachers are the key to the success of any high school educational initiative, any discussion of high school programs must consider the teachers, and specifically the teacher preparation needed to make the implementation of such programs possible. However, there is scant research on CS teacher education, probably because CS is a relatively young discipline. Very few of the publications in the area of CS teacher preparation are research-based. Most are descriptive papers, including recommendations for specific programs or courses. The purpose of this survey is to import from what is already known in other disciplines in this context. We therefore examine the body of research on teacher education in other disciplines, especially in mathematics and science, to shed light on important challenges for CS teacher education and draw some initial conclusions regarding CS teacher preparation programs.

Learning How to Prepare Computer Science High School Teachers

In addition to more well-trained high school computer science teachers, we need more education research that is informed by understanding how CS is taught, what the current practices are, and what's important to keep as practices change.

Mind the (gender) gap

This paper presents the "Mind the Gap" initiative that aims to encourage female high school pupils to study computer science (CS) in high school. This is achieved by increasing their awareness to what CS is, and exposing them to the essence of a hi-tech environment and to same gender role models. Female software engineers at Google's Israel R&D Center in collaboration with the Israeli National Center undertook the initiative for computer science teachers. We describe the initiative and its impact on the female pupils' interest in CS. One of our conclusions is that even a short visit to a hi-tech company, in this case - Google, has the potential to change pupils' perception of what CS is and to increase their interest in CS and their desire to study it. One could easily adapt this initiative to other companies and scale it to infl uence a rather large population.

Fostering 21st Century Skill Development by Engaging Students in Authentic Game Design Projects in a High School Computer Programming Class

This study used technology-rich ethnography (TRE) to examine the use of game development in a high school computer programming class for the development of 21st century skills. High school students created games for elementary school students while obtaining formative feedback from their younger clients. Our experience suggests that in the teaching of computer science in high schools, the development of games that include common game features such as dynamic feedback systems, backstory, levels, cheats, and compelling graphics challenges students and engages them in learning. Incorporating real client feedback is also useful for improving their work and connecting it to the “real” world. This article reports findings from the second year of a research project with a high school computer programming class. The authors argue that such approaches that leverage video games, design, programming, authenticity, and cooperation mobilize multiple 21st century skills that must be nurtured among contemporary young people so that they may grow to be part of a productive citizenry.

How to organize a professional development workshop for high school CS teachers

Students' introduction to the subject of computer science (CS) can have long-lasting effects on their ability and motivation for further study. For that reason, it is particularly important that hi...

Changing what's happening in high school computer science

Computing has become ubiquitous. IT innovation drives our economy, underlies many of the advances we are making in science and engineering, and ensures our national security. IT has the highest pro...

Computer science issues in high school

Computer Science (CS) seems to be one of the few remaining disciplines almost entirely dominated by men, especially among university faculty and in the hi-tech industry. This phenomenon is prevalent throughout the western world. In Israel, we observed it in high schools where only 30% of the students who choose to major in CS are women. It continues in Israeli universities and colleges, where usually less than 30% of CS students are women. In this paper, we provide data describing the situation in Israeli high schools. In addition, we present a survey conducted among high school students which aimed, among other goals, to discover why girls did not choose to take CS in high school. We analyze the data and provide some conclusions and ways to deal with this situation.

Bridging ICT and CS

Recently, the importance of computer science education in secondary schools has been coming more and more into focus. Students' interests and motivation to pursue a career in CS related fields are highly influenced by school. Also beliefs in the nature of CS are influenced, and necessary foundations in knowledge and skills are built. However, a major problem is the gap between information and communication technologies (ICT) and computer science (CS). Often pupils have only experiences in ICT, and therefore develop inadequate beliefs about CS. We propose educational standards for CS in lower high school in order to bridge ICT and CS.

The development and implementation of a context-based curricular framework for computer science education in high schools

In this paper, we describe a computer science curricular framework for creating innovative, four-year computer science programs for high school computer science courses. Based on a suggested set of great principles of computing by Peter Denning, the framework is structured as a stack of four curricular layers. The result is a framework design that provides a high degree of curricular and pedagogical flexibility, particularly suited for the rapidly changing discipline of computer science. This report describes the computer science curricular framework, the implementation of the framework and the deployment of a four-year curriculum from the implemented framework. Initial classroom experiences are reported.

Preparation of high school computer science teachers

This special session examines frameworks for the preparation of high school computer science (CS) teachers from the Israeli perspective. Specifically, several Israeli CS teacher preparation programs and their components are presented. The presentation includes both a general overview and a detailed description of the actual implementation of such programs. This bipolar presentation, we suggest, provides practical guidelines with respect to CS teacher preparation, both for policy makers and for faculty members who wish to establish a CS teacher preparation program at their universities.

Girls, computer science, and games

An innovative week long mini-course for girls has successfully used video game development as the main motivation by teaching related computer science topics at the same time. Students split their time between creating their own game in the lab and learning about game design, usability, graphics, and artificial intelligence. They became more comfortable with the subject and say they are more likely to pursue computer science in high school because of this course.

Digital Game-Based Learning in high school Computer Science education: Impact on educational effectiveness and student motivation

The aim of this study was to assess the learning effectiveness and motivational appeal of a computer game for learning computer memory concepts, which was designed according to the curricular objectives and the subject matter of the Greek high school Computer Science (CS) curriculum, as compared to a similar application, encompassing identical learning objectives and content but lacking the gaming aspect. The study also investigated potential gender differences in the game’s learning effectiveness and motivational appeal. The sample was 88 students, who were randomly assigned to two groups, one of which used the gaming application (Group A, N = 47) and the other one the non-gaming one (Group B, N = 41). A Computer Memory Knowledge Test (CMKT) was used as the pretest and posttest. Students were also observed during the interventions. Furthermore, after the interventions, students’ views on the application they had used were elicited through a feedback questionnaire. Data analyses showed that the gaming approach was both more effective in promoting students’ knowledge of computer memory concepts and more motivational than the non-gaming approach. Despite boys’ greater involvement with, liking of and experience in computer gaming, and their greater initial computer memory knowledge, the learning gains that boys and girls achieved through the use of the game did not differ significantly, and the game was found to be equally motivational for boys and girls. The results suggest that within high school CS, educational computer games can be exploited as effective and motivational learning environments, regardless of students’ gender.

Reducing Abstraction in High School Computer Science Education

The research presented in this article deals with the difficulties and mental processes involved in the definition, implementation, and use of abstract data types encountered by 12 th grade advanced-level computer science students. Research findings are interpreted within the theoretical framework of reducing abstraction [Hazzan 1999]. The article describes the research setting and findings and concludes with some pedagogical implementations.

A model for high school computer science education

This paper presents a model program for high school computer science education. It is based on an analysis of the structure of the Israeli high school computer science curriculum considered to be one of the leading curricula worldwide. The model consists of four key elements as well as interconnections between these elements. It is proposed that such a model be considered and/or adapted when a country wishes to implement a nation-wide program for high school computer science education.

Fertile Zones of Cultural Encounter in Computer Science Education

We explain certain learning difficulties in computer science education as resulting from a clash between the students' culture as computer users and the professional computing culture. We propose the concept of fertile zones of cultural encounter as a way of overcoming these learning difficulties. This pedagogical approach aims to bridge the gap between cultures by designing interventions that are appreciated by members of both cultures, yet also guide the student to engage in the practices of the professional culture. The learning difficulties are demonstrated by a detailed analysis of episodes taken from an advanced high school computer science course in concurrency. We show that fertile zones of cultural encounter can be successful in significantly improving learning of this subject. We are indebted to Sarah Pollack for her insightful comments on this article. We would like to thank the editor and the reviewers for their extensive comments that contributed materially to improving the article.

Computer Society Connection

Hungarian Teen Wins Computer Society Prize at Intel Science FairDaniel Ratai of John von Neumann Computer Science High School in Budapest, Hungary, received a $700 IEEE Computer Society prize at the 2005 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Ratai's project, Leonar3Do 3D for All, adds 3D and touchscreen functionality to an ordinary PC.Taulbee Survey PhD Numbers Rise in 2003-2004The 189 US and Canadian computer science and engineering departments who responded to a Computing Research Association survey reported a total of 1,032 PhDs awarded in 2004, representing an increase of more than 17 percent over the previous year, the highest number of PhD graduates in almost a decade.

To teach is to touch lives forever

The title of this talk comes from a little book that I bought years ago, compiled by S.M. Scott. It includes fictional stories and quotations about teaching, reminiscences by former pupils about their teachers, etc. The title of the book is what caught my eye, since this is how I like to view the role teachers ought to play in people's lives.I truly believe that teachers constitute the cornerstone of any successful implementation of a program of study, on any level. Moreover, I think that beyond the mastery of the actual professional material they plan to teach, good teachers should also have deep and broad knowledge of the entire subject of which that material is part, and they must have the ability to convey the material to others correctly and reliably, to provide perspective, and to infuse the students with interest, curiosity, and enthusiasm. All this requires an educator to be more of an intellectual, at least in what concerns the relevant field at large.In the talk I'll try to elaborate on the teachers' role, and to discuss the principles that should underlie a good study program, while emphasizing high school computer science curricula. Thus, I will touch upon what I think should be the core issues for computer science education research. I will also share some anecdotes from my own life, which at the time motivated me to get involved in teaching and educating, in designing computer science study programs and in their implementation, and paved the way to my doing research on teaching the fundamentals of computer science.