Transcript The Middle School Computing Science Initiative

A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
A bottom-up approach...
Harvey Duff
School CS Outreach Consultant
Department of Computing Science
University of Alberta)
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
A Quick Overview of:
 Why
 How
 What
 Who
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
Why?
To deal with three Senior High CS issues
 Poor Gender Balance
 Lack of General Appeal
 Ethnic Diversity
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
How?
Address these issues in earlier grades
 Starting in Junior High – good
 Starting in Upper Elementary – better
 Starting in K to 3 - best
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
How?
Offer units of study that:
 Appeal to girls
 Appeal to diverse populations
 Are culturally sensitive
 Link with other subject areas
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
How?
Offer units of study that:
 Are Intrinsically Motivating
 Use a systematic Computational Thinking model
 Use an “agile” approach
 Have Iterative, Incremental, Evolutionary work
approach
 Use Design, Develop, Code, Assess cycles
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
How?
Offer units of study that move students to
become:
 More autonomous learners
 More collaborative
 More able to decompose problems into a set of
smaller, simpler problems
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
How?
Offer units of study that move students to
become:
 More able to develop algorithms
 More able to implement those algorithms
 More able to transfer Skills and Knowledge from one
domain to another
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
How?
 Use CTF as a vehicle to develop units of study
 Incorporate them in core subjects in
Elementary
 Develop as a stand alone CTF Option in Junior
High – BUT linked to other subjects
 Link to Computing Oriented CTS OAs
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
How?
 Use a cross division team to develop the units
 Have Elementary teachers “drive” the units
aimed at Elementary
 Have Junior High teachers “drive” the units
aimed at Junior High
 Use an agile approach to develop agile units
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
What?
 Create project sequences to help students
move from:
 Heavily scaffolded projects to less scaffolded ones.
 Following algorithms to developing algorithms
 Walk through to emulation to creation
 Cook to chef
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
What?
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative:
What?
The Queen Elizabeth CSI using approach to
develop:
 Interactive Map of Canada (Gr. 5 Social)
 Predator/Prey Exploration (Gr. 5 Science)
 Slide Show style Timeline (Gr. 5 Social)
 Side Scrolling Timeline Template (Gr. 6 Social)
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative:
What?
 Generic Story Telling Project sequence
 Single Frame Biography
 Two Person Conversation
 Multi-scene Story
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
What?
Looking to build a “syllabus” of similar projects
at Junior High using:
 Scratch
 Game Maker
 Python
 HTML/CSS/JavaScript
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
Who?
NCC CSI team consists of Junior High,
Elementary, Senior High and Post Secondary
teachers based out of Queen Elizabeth High
School in Edmonton.
Any Senior High could “clone” this initiative for
their catchment area.
A Middle School
Computing Science Initiative
Interested in doing something
similar?
Contact me and I’ll put you in touch
with the principal players.