“We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair and that success is not a function of fame or PR, but of hard work and discipline.” President Obama
Science fairs are not what they are stereotypically portrayed on television as: building volcanoes and such. Those are things are demonstrations. Science fairs are about the scientific method and student research. What a lot of people don’t quite realize is that it is also the “engineering method.” The term “science fair” is just a shorthand way of saying “science and engineering fair.” These days, engineering is its own category. Often it is broken up into several types of engineering. In most science fairs, whether they are local, state, or international (the US doesn’t have a national science fair, but we host the international one) you will find one to several engineering categories AND a computer science category.
Some would argue that engineering and computer science don’t often follow the standard definition of the scientific method. The reality is, however, that students working on projects in these categories design, create, test, and deploy a finished product. CS projects often deal with creating a new software application, creating new algorithms, making algorithms more efficient, or developing computing devices. They cover the gamut of CS and computer engineering.
Participating in a science fair is a great way for students to explore a computer concept or to create a software solution to a computer or user problem for the real world. It allows the student to go through the software development life cycle for a problem that they are addressing. It is no longer a programming assignment or Lab 4.5. Rather, it is applying the CS concepts we teach to a real problem that they identified. What better way to drive home the idea that CS has real world value and relevance?
For many cities and states, science fair “season” is upon us. So, it might be too late for your students to apply to this year’s fair. But find out when and where the closest science fair is to you and stop by and visit it. Better yet, plan a field trip to it and bring your students!
There is nothing more powerful than students seeing the work that other students are doing to make them see that they can do it too. The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (http://www.societyforscience.org/isef) has a list of affiliated fairs. Affiliated fairs can be local (city, regional, county, etc.) or state level.
Shirley Miranda
CSTA Board of Directors

Now that the new year has arrived, it is time to start looking forward to the summer and computer camps.
Last year, I ran my first computer camp for twenty-two middle school students. I ran a week-long camp, with a mix of HTML, Alice programming, and robotics. It was certainly a learning experience for me. As I look forward to the possibility of another camp this summer, I will be tweaking and modifying what I did last year. For anyone considering offering a camp, there are plenty of great resources online to help you. A great place to start is Georgia Tech’s website at:
http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/ice-gt/1091
One big decision I have to make for the upcoming year is whether to push for a girls-only camp this time around. Last year, when I approached my principal about offering a summer camp, he was delighted at the prospect. It was a win-win for the school; summer camps help to advertise our school in the community, summer camps encourage young people interested in STEM to learn more about it and our school in the process; summer camps offer employment for our high school students. However, when I really tried to advocate for a girls-only camp, he backed off his initial receptiveness to the idea. Since it was my first year offering a camp, I relinquished control and went with a co-ed camp.
While I consider the week a success, I do wonder how the eight girls who attended my camp would have performed if it had been a girls-only camp. I definitely witnessed apprehension and timidity on the girls’ part in some situations with a group of rather noisy, rambunctious middle school boys. I tried to gear the week towards girls by using Alice and emphasizing storytelling. The robotics and HTML sessions had art components built in. I even used pink and purple in my flyers to attract girls. I do know the camp would have been a different experience had it been a girls-only camp. However, would it necessarily have been better for the girls, or just different? Is it worth the effort to fight for a girls-only camp this year or is it better to just ensure girls who attend get a good experience and learn something about computer science? Is there a benefit to the girls interacting with the boys?
I would be interested to hear what others think about the girls-only dilemma. There has been much research on the topic and people usually have strong opinions on it. What has been your experience with summer camps, both co-ed and single sex?
Karen Lang
CSTA Board of Directors

I suspect that beneath discussions of computing/computer science/computational thinking in K-12, there is an underlying fear that the computer scientists will come along and make everyone learn to program. So here’s my perspective on that.
I disagree with those who say that everyone has to program. Their argument goes something like this (based on Douglas Rushkoff): we all use computers and there’s a lot of old software out there, our new world and new economy are built on top of the old software, and if we can’t understand the old software then we can’t possibly take advantage of all that the new world offers and we are at the mercy of those who program because they hold all the power. Rushkoff sees it as a problem that when we got text we became readers, but not writers. I ask: what is wrong with that? We enjoy music but not all of us are musicians. Should we be? We drive cars but not all are automotive engineers. We take aspirin but not all are pharmacologists.
When we think about an informed citizenry, what do people really need to know? Does everyone have to know how to program in order to understand that technology can have built-in biases? Does everyone need to understand programming in order to be a critical user and consumer of technology? The most important thing is that people understand the capabilities of computers, both through analogy to human tasks and through application to problem solving across a range of fields. I would love to see every student aquire sufficient depth of knowledge that they can engage in fruitful discussion about both what we might want computers to do and the possibility of making computers do those things. But not everyone has to have the skills and knowledge necessary to actually make the computers perform accordingly.
Valerie Barr
CSTA Computational Think Task Force Chair

I was watching the local (New jersey) news channel earlier this school year when something caught my attention: “The percentage of failing grades in a NJ school district fell by approximately 42.5%.” Wow! Here’s what I could find on the subject.
In an effort to improve student success rates, Mt. Olive School District in NJ eliminated the grade of “D”. The required grade for passing was raised from 65 to 70. The new system went into effect in September 2010. Under this system, students who fail can re-take exams and assignments. When a child receives a failing grade, the parents are notified through email. The student then has three to four days to take a test again or repeat an assignment, replacing the original score with the new score, up to 70%. Students may not retake quarter, midterm, or final exams.
The superintendent of Mt Olive schools, Larrie Reynolds, stated that the percentage of failing grades fell by an average of 42.5 percent at the end of the 2010 first quarter grading period, compared to the same time period one year ago. “Failing grades” refer to those grades below 70%. In addition to fewer failing grades, there was also an increase in the number of students scoring A’s and B’s in the district’s middle school.
To achieve the goal of more students succeeding, middle school staff created a “Whatever It Takes” committee to care for targeted, struggling students. High school teachers met with students at lunch time and after school to help re-teach missing concepts.
Students who continue to fail are given the opportunity to attend an after school tutoring program, known as “Sunset Academy.” Launched in November 2010, the Sunset Academy, housed at both the middle and high school, is described as a program that is “sufficient to provide full credit recovery for failed first or second quarter identified courses.” The successful completion of the Sunset coursework entitles a student to recover credit for a failing grade. The curriculum in the Sunset Academy is intended to mirror the curriculum offered during the student’s failed quarter and is intended to strengthen student skills so that the student is adequately prepared for the subsequent courses. Sunset teachers “assist students with homework, upcoming tests, quizzes, projects, and assignments and work related to the specific courses in which students are presently enrolled.” When time permits, Sunset teachers re-teach failed assignments, tests, and quizzes. Sunset Academy courses take place after the conclusion of the school day for two hours, two days per week for approximately seven weeks. Sunset Academy’s standard for success is 80 percent. Students must complete in-class work assignments with at least 80% mastery before they are allowed to move on to another project. As a result, successful completion of the Sunset Academy program will entitle students to substitute their Sunset Academy grade of 80 percent for their first quarter failed grade for English or Math.
The Sunset Academy program is paid for through tuition ($150 per student per class). Fees are necessary to pay the expenses to run the program (i.e. teacher salaries). The fee entitles the student to 30 hours of instruction which can be used to recover a lost quarterly credit needed for graduation.
Note: Mount Olive, an above-average school in a middle-class New Jersey community.
Some questions came to my mind, so I posed them to Debbie Carter, a teacher of math and computer science at Mt. Olive High School:
Q: How many times can a student retake a quiz/test/assignment? This seems to imply that the classroom teacher is responsible for creating multiple versions of every quiz, test, and assignment.
A: A student is allowed one retake/resubmission. Many of us already create two versions of each test or quiz, to thwart copying, so we give a student the other version of a test for the retake. However, I now delay giving back any quizzes or assignments with passing grades until after the deadline for retakes, to reduce copying or attempts to memorize answers.
Q: Was there input from the teachers when designing this system?
A: No. It was designed fairly quickly just before school started – but some details have been tweaked as a result of teacher input. For example, the initial policy said that the retake score would always replace the original, which discouraged some students because of the risk factor. The policy was amended so that only a higher score will replace the original. However, some students retake tests without making the effort to get help to understand what they missed, which wastes their time and that of their teachers.
Q: It seems that any failing grade can be replaced by an 80% when the student attends the tuition paid Sunset Academy.
A: Students are supposed to have to achieve 80% mastery on work in Sunset Academy (which often consists of their current assignments in the same class, rather than last quarter’s work) in order to get the 80% grade, but guidelines haven’t been set for how that work will be assessed.
(Two math teachers are currently working with students from five different math courses.) Students will NOT be required to retake the quarterly assessment for the term that they failed.
Q: Is this Sunset Academy for Math and English only or does it apply to all subjects? Where does Computer Science fit? If it is not included, not fair. If it is included, who teaches it? There are so few CS teachers in any one district.
A: Sunset Academy is currently available only for English and Math (most critical for graduation). I believe there are plans to include Science and Social Studies next year. I can’t foresee it being offered for any electives, due to reduced demand and the supply of teachers.
Debbie added, “I really like the philosophy behind this policy. I often said that a student who barely passed wasn’t prepared for the next math course, and we did them a disservice by suggesting that they were. I had previously had several students who played the system just enough to get that 65% passing average (and a few who misjudged the amount of required effort and fell short). We now require more of students, and many of them are rising to the challenge. We still have some kinks to work out of the system. We’re all pleased when students make the effort to re-learn what they missed the first time, but teachers are spending a good bit of extra time (during lunch or prep) to manage the retakes.”
I am pretty sure that Mt. Olive is not the only school district that has eliminated the “D” grade. What advantages and disadvantages do you see with this system? What are your thoughts?
Resources:

Fran Trees
CSTA Chapter Liaison

Now is the time for students (and teachers) to start thinking about their summer. I know the new year just began, but it’s never to early to plan.
For the last several years I’ve have the tremendous opportunity to spend a month in the summer as a Teacher Fellow for the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus. Their mission is to encourage students to continue their interest in STEM fields by working side-by-side with university faculty and researchers. Students live on-campus for four weeks. Think of it as camp that emphasizes technology, engineering, science and math.
Each of the four sites (UCSD, UC Irvine, UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz) offers different clusters/topics of focus. What I love about COSMOS is that it does not limit itself to the disciplines traditionally thought for STEM. At UCSD, one of the eight clusters is about computer science. That’s the cluster that I’m involved with.
Computers in Everyday Life introduces students to computer science through three threads: programming, robotics and microcontrollers. Guest speakers are brought in during lecture times to discuss various CS concepts, in all their variations and applications. It truly bring computer science alive for students. One of the things that I think is great is that it is not just programming. It connects to students and their lives and shows them that CS is everywhere, everyday.
I encourage all my students (not just my CS and robotics students) to participate in summer programs like COSMOS. It opens their minds, broadens their experience, builds friendships, shows them the careers and majors that are available, and encourages them that STEM and learning is fun and exciting! I’ve had students participate that say all that and more.
For teachers, you get to bring back new ideas for your classroom. Even after being a COSMOS Teacher Fellow for four years, I keep finding new things and incorporating them into my classes. It is the best professional development I’ve participated in. Every year is different – new technologies, new insights, cutting edge research. I think that when you teach CS it is very important to stay on top of what is out there especially when we are trying to encourage them to major in it!
Bottom line it’s life changing for both the Teacher Fellow and the students.
Slowly, I’m hearing of more summer programs like COSMOS (http://www.ucop.edu/cosmos/). It is a great and rejuvenating way to spend part of your summer. If you know of some, let us all know! I know applications for COSMOS will be open soon (for students and teachers) and I’m sure more will be too!
Shirley Miranda
CSTA Board Member