Page 24 - Getting the Picture Modeling and Simulation in Secondary Computer Science Education

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Chapter 1
Lye and Koh (2014) then used the framework suggested by Brennan and Resnick — describing CT in terms of computational concepts, computational practices and computational perspectives — to analyze 27 intervention studies about development of CT in CS courses in K-12. Their findings were that most of these interventions focus on computational concepts while computational practices and perspective barely get any attention, and they go on to recommend an instructional approach described as “a constructionism-based problem-solving learning environment, with information processing, scaffolding and reflection activities, could be designed to foster computational practices and computational perspectives.”
1.1.3 Teachers
With all this attention to CT, it is important to facilitate the teaching itself. There are voices expressing concerns whether teachers are ready to teach CT without specific preparation (Perković et al., 2010). Bort and Brylow (2013) set out to measure the integration of CT core concepts into lesson plans of the teachers attending their Computer Science for High School (CS4HS) workshops and found that, while the teachers were enthusiast, there was ample room for improvement of the lesson plans the teachers produced. Digging deeper, Czerkawski (2013) surveyed six instructional designers on their ideas how to promote the ideas of CT in the curriculum, with instruction based on ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation) and particular emphasis on analysis and design phases. The findings are described in terms of: dispositions and characteristics of the learners, teaching strategies, learning outcomes, pedagogical considerations, adult learning considerations, user experience, instructional prototype & curriculum design, and finally, visual and multimedia design. Together with Xu, they provide a sample activity plan for CT in educational technology courses (Czerkawski & Xu, 2012). Yadav et al. (2014, 2011) observed that most of the efforts to familiarize teachers with CT are focused on CS teachers and turned their attention to pre-service teacher training of primary and secondary teachers of other disciplines. They introduce a compulsory CT module into the teacher education and observe that it results in a positive attitude of the students towards CS and integration of computing into their teaching. To further advance teacher preparation, they recommend to redesign courses on educational technology and methods to better develop future teachers’ competencies in CT, and to have education and CS faculty jointly work on these efforts (Yadav et al., 2017).