My reading requirement this week took me to the article, "Computer Science Education Looking Back and Looking Ahead" by Chris Stephenson. In this Article Mr. Stephenson discusses many topics (in my opinion too much for the short length of the article) that include but are not limited to; Gender in Computer Science, Curriculum of Computer Science (hence forth C.S.), Origins of C.S., Teacher's Education in C.S. etc...It’s actually a little crowded in the article to really focus on one particular topic.
Now, having a Information Technology background and as recently as last semester enjoyed a JAVA programming course, I fully appreciated the data Mr. Stephenson provides in this article. However, if C.S. is not your first second third or fifteenth love, you may find this article a little drab. "Chris" even states a certain "drab doom and gloom" in the piece.
As a teacher I imagine that being able to articulate where a student can go in the industry can be quite beneficial to your education philosophy as well as your lesson planning. However, if you are not the most savvy of computer literate teachers this article may not be of grand interest to you. For the sake of Social Justice you may want to read about the current Gendering of C.S. to promote such opportunity to young ladies who have at the minimum an interest in C.S.
If you are to be entrusted with teaching a C.S. curriculum please read this article as it provides teachers with an almost "WARNING" of what's ahead of you in the realms of C.S. You will have to compete with a lack of resources such as hardware & software. You will have to foster an understanding of requirements for the administration as well as general education requirements versus Advanced Placement (AP) requirements. And you will have to compensate (somehow) for a lack of teacher development programs specific to C.S.
In summary, consider reading this article if you are looking to browse the possibility of a C.S. curriculum in your future or if you have students that aspire to go forth in the C.S. field. Take the article's gems of data and apply them accordingly; origination of programming and gender as a divisor in the field. In my opinion you can relate these two topics at the minimum to ANY curriculum you plan to implement.
This PSA has been brought to you by...."LANCE-TACULAR...dontcha just wanna TEACH EVERYONE" and "TEACH!!!!! Because we NEED YOU TO..."
Stephenson, C. (2002). Computer Science Education Looking Back Looking Ahead. Learning and Leading with Technology , 30 (2), 6-9, 44-45. ISTE: EUGENE, OR.
Lance! Excellent job color coordinating your blog.I must admit that computer science is not one of my top ten interests however with technology taking over almost every aspects of our lives the knowledge is pertinent. I though it was interesting that you commented on amount of information vs the available space. I think that articles should really focus on one subject and go more in depth versus trying to incorporate multiple facets and losing some valuable information.
ReplyDeleteI started out as a computer science major but then I realized it wasn't for me. Due to the fact that our world depends on technology I do feel it is important to be informed. As we've heard over and over "knowledge is power".
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