CP1.4 - The Iowa CS Standards

This will look and feel very similar to an activity you completed in Teaching and Learning Programming. But at that time we limited our discussion to the programming standards. For this activity I would like you to consider the full set of standards from your grade band.

 

Readings

 

Instructions

  1. If you have not done so yet, download and view the CSTA K-12 CS Standards which Iowa has adopted as it's CS Standards.

    2.  

  2. Examine the high level overview of the standards on pages 3-6
    • Regardless of which grade band you teach at, I want you to carefully consider each of the grand band columns:
      • Column 1a = Lower Elementary
      • Column 1b = Upper Elementary
      • Column 2 = Middle School
      • Column 3a = Standards for all High School students
      • NOTE that there are standards labeled 3b which are not in this table and I will not ask you to consider for this activity. However, in explanation, those standards are for HS students who take multiple semesters and advanced CS courses.
        • You can consider 3A as standards for ALL HS students and 3B as standards for those who specialize in CS beyond the basics.

     

  3. Let's dig in and focus on . one grade band of your choice. For sake of my instructions I will write this up based on the high school standards.
    • Read through 3A-CS-01 to CA-IC-30. You may find this easier if you read the detailed version rather than the chart summary version (pp 24-31)
    • For each of these 30 standards I want you think through what you have learned so far in our course sequence.  Answer the following questions:
      1. Do you feel like you observed this standard in the way the courses were taught?
        • If "yes" - When and/or how
        • If "no" - What kind of activity do you think this course could have utilized to better address this standard? 
          • [Note, I realize that for one or two of these if the answer is "No" it may be hard for you to answer this question since you may not know what the standard is saying.  But for many others I think you will understand the standard even without direct instruction and I think you can imagine/envision activities that would have addressed this standard. Please give this question an honest attempt at an answer.]
      2. Do you feel like you have enough introduction to this standard to think about incorporating it into your classroom?
        1. If "yes" -  What kinds of activities (in addition to the ones you observed in our classroom) do you feel would address this standard.
        2. If "no" - Why not [Again, this is tightly tied to the No in part 1 but it is actually a different question.

 

NOTE: This will feel familiar. You did an abbreviated version of this activity focussing only on the programming standards as part of the Teaching and Learning Programming course. For that activity you used a Google Form to submit your results.

For this activity I am asking you to consider the entire standards strand of your selection (All five concepts from the framework. Not just the Algorithms and Programming concept). Furthermore, I am asking you to create a document to be delivered directly in Blackboard rather than via a Google Form.

I will ask that you complete this as a word-processed document and submit via Blackboard.

Evaluation

I am collecting this activity NOT to grade it but, instead, to use it as a feedback and reference point for our program. We will use your opinions to help us continue to reshape our program.