Page 17 - Getting the Picture Modeling and Simulation in Secondary Computer Science Education

being an optional subject in grades 7-9 (Caspersen & Nowack, 2013a; Vahrenhold 1 et al., 2017).
In Germany, with its sixteen federal states, each with their own educational system, the situation concerning teaching CS varies per state. In Bavaria, for example, CS has been taught since the 1960’s and currently, as of 2004, it is taught in secondary education in grades 6 12 in grammar schools (i.e. gymnasia). In the 6th and 7th grade it is compulsory for all students, and in the 9th and 10th grades for students in the science and technology track. Additionally, there are elective CS courses in the 11th and 12th grade. These courses focus predominantly on computing as scientific discipline (Hubwieser, 2012).
After the dramatic appeal in the Royal Society of England report (Furber, 2012), the school subject called Computing was introduced in England in 2013 as a compulsory subject for all students in primary and secondary schools. This subject is about computer science, information technology and digital literacy (Barendsen et al., 2015).
France is in the process of introducing CS into primary schools, as an integral part of math and technology courses. In 2012, a computer science course was introduced for scientific Baccalauréat students only, and since 2014 a broader computer science course was offered as an optional subject in other types of secondary education. Yet, the French Academy of Sciences in their 2013 report expresses the concerns that “In the computing field, Europe and France in particular are far behind, both conceptually and industrially, compared to more dynamic countries such as the United States and certain Asian nations” and recommend compulsory CS courses emphasizing the concepts, science and techniques of computing to be introduced into primary, secondary and tertiary education (Teaching computer science in France: Tomorrow can’t wait, 2013). The newest development is that in 2020, the two courses in France are replaced by a new compulsory course in grade 10 — Digital Sciences and Technology (in French: Sciences numériques et technologie (SNT)) and an elective specialist course in grades 11 and 12 - Digital and Computer Sciences (in French: Numérique et sciences informatiques (NSI)) (School Education in France - Éduscol, 2020).
In the USA, local authorities are in charge of education, and teaching CS varies greatly from state to state and within the states. In 2010, a joint report written by Computer Science Teacher Association (CSTA) and Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) expressed great concern about the failure to teach CS and recommends that CS becomes a core academic subject with a curriculum focusing
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