CD1 - What is computer science?

Background

This week you have read a broad set of materials from a variety of sources. Many of these were selected because they include some combination of:

  1. attempts to explain what CS actually is as a discipline in K-12 education
  2. explains the rationale behind the inclusion of CS in K-12 education
  3. define elements of what topics/issues are appropriate for CS in K-12 education

We wrap up by summarizing those ideas.

 

Question 1

What is Computer Science?

I recognize that, on its own, this is a fairly simple question and likely could be answered with only two or three sentences.  In fact, many sources attempt to do exactly that. In order to better explain the type of answer I am looking for, let me ask a different question:

Suppose that you were asked by your principal/superintendent to give a brief explanation to the school board about Computer Science.  Specifically, you are asked to make sure that this explanation helps this non-technical audience understand a) the definition of computer science as a field and b) how it does (or perhaps should) fit into K12 education (perhaps even adding "in your district").  What would you say to explain computer science to this audience?

Please include references to materials from the AEA online resources as part of your answer.

I really want this to be a single, well thought out reflection essay and not simply 2-3 sentence answers to these questions. I would expect a high quality response to be 600-1000 (or more) words [NOTE: I really do hate prescribing word counts.  And I absolutely will not word count in order to evaluate your responses.  But it is one of the easiest and clearest ways for me to indicate the scale of the solutions that I am looking for in the responses. ]

 

Question 2

Why should we include CS in K12 education?

And your answer can't be "because the state of Iowa has mandated it." Why might they have done this?

You may certainly include talking points from our required readings, but I would encourage you to expand on this by connecting to your classroom and/or what you have been learning so far in this program. While I think that we have pulled together a good set of resources, I think there are lots of other great resources out there that can help us all (teachers, administrators, students, parents, etc) better understand computer science and why it is important to include it in K12 education. It is perfectly legitimate to reference these as well in this response.

Again, this is likely several hundred words just to earn the 3 and will need to be well crafted and use specific examples/references to earn a 4.

 

Question 3

Translating Computer Science to K-12 Skills

For the final activity I would like you to consider how what you read about Computer Science for this week translates to skills for K-12 students.

Suppose that you were asked by your school district to help articulate what and how computer science would be taught at one grade band in your school district.  Before you could identify how it would be taught you really want to think about what the results of that teaching would/should be. In other words, what skills do we want kids to have as they progress through K-12 education.  Later in the course I will ask you to write much more focused and specific outcomes.  For now I want you to think more big picture and in more general terms.

In your own words prepare a set of general goals/outcomes/skills for one of the indicated grade bands (clearly indicate what band you are writing about):

Obviously these four bands align with the CSTA/Iowa standards and, mostly obviously, this activity relates to those standards.  But I'm wanting you to think beyond the standards just a bit and consider how those standards might be translated to skills that the students in your school district could exhibit.  For each grade band, what are the things you would like students to be able to do?

DISCLAIMER:  I recognize that this activity could (and partially will) be conducted at a VERY specific level of detail.  But this is "Unit 1" and I'm trying to just get you started thinking about computer science as a whole.  So think big picture and "starting point" level of detail for now.  It is likely that 3-8 skills is sufficient at this time in the course. Don't feel you have to limit yourself to 8.  But don't feel obligated to go significantly deeper beyond that either.

 

Evaluation