Research Committee Survey Information

Posted on April 22, 2015 by admin

The Research Committee does just what the name implies – research surrounding computer science education in K-12 setting. The research is often in conjunction with other organizations, such as Oracle that led to the recent CSTA – Oracle Academy 2014 High School CS Survey. Beside partnering with corporations, CSTA also conducts larger research projects, such as the Bugs in the System: Computer Science Teacher Certification in the US. These types of research are important to understanding what is happening in the landscape of computer science education and identify issues our CS educators face .

Along with larger research projects we also do our own CSTA Membership Survey (results of past years here) and CSTA National Secondary Computer Science Survey (results of past years here). These two surveys alternate years to allow CSTA to collect complimentary data and inform our work.

The membership survey gives us data on membership demographics, how they are connected to CS education, and CSTA resources they find useful in their work. This gives us data to improve CSTA’s support and direction for the membership at large.
The CSTA National Secondary CS Survey gives us data on what is being taught at the high school level, the types of certification teachers hold, demographics of the students we reach, as well as allowing us to see the demographic reach of CS education. The survey data allows us to tailor our professional development resources to meet the curricular needs of the CSTA members and apply for grants and funding based on the student population we are reaching.

This years 2015 CSTA National Secondary Computer Science Survey was sent out in an e-blast yesterday (4/21) to the US Secondary membership. We would greatly appreciate your time in completing the survey as the data is valuable in meeting your needs. As an incentive, we have a drawing for five Amazon gift cards worth $100 for those that complete the survey.

Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2015NatHSCS (Closes on May 5, 2015, at 11:59pm HST)

Thanks,
The Research Committee
Stephanie Hoepppner & Aman Yadav, CSTA Board and Research Committee Members

The CSTA Nominations and Elections Committee

Posted on April 15, 2015 by admin

By: Deborah Seehorn and Dave Reed

The primary purpose of the CSTA Nominations and Elections Committee is to oversee and maintain the nominations and elections process.

The primary functions of the committee are listed below.

Conduct and oversee the Call for Nominations prior to each Board of Directors election.
Actively recruit and bring forth qualified applicants to maintain diversity on the Board of Directors.
Ensure that recruiting of applicants for open positions on the Board of Directors occurs prior to the close of nominations. If only one qualified nomination is received, the Nominations and Elections committee may seek additional candidates.
Select two applicants from the pool of nominations for each open Board of Director position during an election period. These two applicants will then be presented to the general membership during the Board of Directors election process. If only one qualified nominee can been found, that nominee will be acclaimed.
Work with staff to facilitate the sharing of candidate information with the members.
Work with the Executive Director and CSTA staff to select and refine technologies for conducting fair and secure election. Election technologies shall be approved by the Board of Directors.
Ensure that all elections are carried out in accordance with the current Bylaws and Board of Directors Policies and Procedures.
Make recommendations to the Board of Directors for qualified candidates to fill vacated positions on the Board of Directors.
Provide recommendations to the Board for the revision of the current election process and eligibility requirements of candidates.
Stagger the elections for the positions of 9-12 Teacher Representative and At-Large Representative so that only one from each is position is elected each year. If more than one position from either of these representative categories will become vacant in the following year, the Board may vote to extend the term of one of the current representatives for a period of one year. The Chair will determine which of the two current representatives will be asked to extend their term of service

For the 2015 CSTA Board Election, the Call for Nominations was issued in November 2014. Nominations closed on February 1, 2015. CSTA received an ample number of well-qualified nominations for each of the three open board positions. Each member of the Nominations and Elections Committee reviews the qualifications of the nominees and rates them based on an objective rubric. These ratings are then used to select the top two nominees for each board position. Those two nominees become the two candidates for each board position. The candidate qualifications are then posted on the CSTA website. This year candidates also submitted blog posts to the CSTA Advocate blog https://advocate.csteachers.org/.

The Election Buddy website was set up for the 2015 Election, and the election began on April 2, 2015. The election will conclude on May 4, 2015. The newly elected board members will be notified and then announced to the CSTA membership shortly thereafter. The new board members will participate in the CSTA Board Meeting in Grapevine, Texas in July.

The current members of the CSTA Curriculum Committee are:

Dave Reed, Creighton University, [email protected]

Tammy Pirmann, School District of Springfield Township, PA, [email protected]

Karen Lang, Former Board Member, [email protected]

Deborah Seehorn, NC Department of Public Instruction, [email protected]

Lissa Clayborn, Acting CSTA Executive Director, [email protected]

We welcome your comments and suggestions on how the CSTA Nominations and Elections Committee can better meet the needs of our CSTA members.

Deborah Seehorn
CSTA Nominations and Elections Committee Chair and Board Chair

Dave Reed
CSTA Nominations and Elections Committee and Board Chair-Elect

Computer Science in Other Disciplines

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Laura Blankenship

Many people argue against the teaching of Computer Science by saying that we shouldn’t create a bunch of programmers/computer scientists. I find this argument frustrating because we still teach Math, English, and even Biology even though we know that not all students will pursue these fields. Why do we teach different disciplines? Sometimes, it’s to expose students to career possibilities and sometimes it’s to provide them with skills for any career. CS is about both. It’s important to expose students to the field of CS itself, and let them see the many different forms it can take, but perhaps more importantly, the skills that one learns in CS apply everywhere.

We argue that CS teaches problem solving, logic, and more, and it’s true, and those skills are useful in many contexts. There are always problems to solve, no matter what career you choose, and increasingly, there are programming or technical needs in any career you choose. But don’t take it from me. Take it from one of my former students, Rebecca, now studying Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve:

Even though I am not planning on going in a strictly Computer Science direction (I am currently studying Biomedical Engineering with a Biomaterials concentration), my experience with programming has taught me how to approach problems, and has given me enough background experience to apply to Biomedical Imaging labs- where computers are taught to distinguish cancerous tissue from healthy tissue in MRI images by searching for specific attributes and patterns in the image. Even in the medical field in widespread projects like cancer research, people with programming backgrounds are needed. Some are needed to actually write code, but many more are needed to understand how the data is being created and used so that they know how to implement it in future experiments.

Most of my CS students are not going to be computer scientists, but most of them will pursue careers where their CS experience will help them. We need to keep reminding people that CS is not just for computer scientists and programmers, but for everyone!

How to prepare educators to teach coding/CS

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Sheena Vaidyanathan

As part of my role as the CSTA Board member for K-8, I have been working with an amazing team of computer science (CS) educators – the CSTA K-8 Task force to host Twitter chats every other Wednesday using the hashtag #CSK8. The last chat was on the topic – ‘How to prepare educators to teach coding/CS’. This chat generated an interesting discussion among educators and made me think more on how much CS content knowledge is necessary at the K-8 level. Can we reduce or eliminate professional development (PD) completely to quickly address the shortage of teachers?

Several CS advocates believe that with two powerful strategies – online self-guided tutorials and peer instruction, teachers need little or no PD to teach CS. Coding clubs run by volunteers who have limited experience in CS, but hand out solutions, point to videos and peers are coming up everywhere. While this approach may work in after school situations, can this work in schools trying to reach ‘all’ students? The emphasis is on the “all,” reaching every student and not only those already interested or confident of learning CS. We expect K-8 Math teachers to know some math, should we expect teachers who teach CS to know at least some CS? If CS is to include more than coding (which it should!), does the answer change?

Based on my last six years of experience teaching CS to 6th graders across a public district in California, I want to share my concerns about relying on online courses and peer instruction to reach all students.

Online tutorials have many advantages and work well in so many cases, that it is very tempting to focus on that success alone. It is tempting to ignore all those who do not learn well by passively watching videos and those who need the concept explained again in a different way. It is also easy to celebrate the cool structured projects made by students following an online recipe and declare that they have learned to code. Some of my students who have completed an entire online course of structured exercises on their own, are unable to solve simple debug challenges or make a completely different kind of project. That certificate or badge from their online learning site does not mean they have actually learned the why and how behind the coding concepts. It does not mean they are expert problem solvers, or understand basic algorithms.

Peer instruction is a powerful teaching strategy and I use it extensively. The advanced student who has finished the exercise is challenged to help someone else. Students love teaching others, and learning from others. However, I often find that peer instructors quickly fix the problem without being able to show the thinking behind the solution. Even though I strongly encourage my peer instructors to explain and not actually touch the keyboard, it does not always work. These peer instructors are more advanced coders, but are not necessarily natural teachers. In later projects, struggling students then start relying on this group of student experts, further reinforcing the belief that they can never do this on their own.

Adult teachers are more likely to guide / encourage/ give hints/re-explain and help the student discover and learn the concept rather than just give them the solution. Teaching is messy after all, and takes work. Instead of quickly pointing to a video or giving the solved solution/recipe, teachers who know the content can focus on explaining the fundamental concept. In addition, as the twitter chat pointed out, if PD comes from actual teachers in the classroom, educators can learn beyond the CS content. They can also learn strategies from experienced teachers on what specifically works well in the CS classroom. This can further increase the chance of success with all students.

So going back to the the question – should educators have some CS experience, my answer is yes. Of course, depending on the age group they are teaching, the ‘some’ varies. Teachers do not need advanced degrees in computer science, and can always be learning more along with their students. However they must have some CS content and pedagogy knowledge so they can inspire, engage, and guide every student. It is especially important if we are to reach students who are struggling or believe they do not fit the CS stereotype. These students are not excitedly watching videos online, they need help from a human teacher. Preparing our educators to teach CS is the only way to reach ‘all’ our students, and address the equity issue in computing.

(See more on this topic by reading responses from a variety of educators on the #CSK8 chat archive at https://storify.com/xanekka/csk8-csta. For archives of other CSTA K-8 Twitter chats and other topics of interest to K-8, check out the CSTA K-8 g+ Community at http://goo.gl/Zx3Dh2

Sheena Vaidyanathan

6th Grade Computer Science Teacher
Los Altos School District, California
CSTA Board Rep for K-8

The Membership Committee

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Laura Blankenship

The Membership Committee of the CSTA is responsible for cultivating membership. It seems like a straightforward enough job, but we set our goals pretty high. The CSTA is valuable precisely because of its member base. Being a member of the CSTA gives you access to thousands of members around the world with whom you can share ideas, learn, and grow as a Computer Science teacher. We’re always trying to increase membership so that everyone has a great experience and lots of smart teachers to connect with. In addition to individual members, we also have institutional members: schools, universities, and companies who support the mission of the CSTA. These members provide additional resources for our members and often sponsor events and activities that are advertised to our membership.

How many members are there? Altogether, we have almost 20,000 members, both individual and institutional. These members represent all 50 states and over 140 countries. That’s a powerful group of advocates!

Membership levels by country:

Membership levels by state:

Why join CSTA? I recently represented the CSTA at the Celebration of Teaching and Learning Conference and was asked that quite a bit. Being a member of the CSTA means being a part of a larger community of Computer Science Teachers, Educators, and Advocates. You get access to curriculum resources, reports and information about Computer Science education. Many CS teachers are the only ones at their school, so having a community to connect with makes you feel less alone, and being a member means you, too, can contribute to the direction of Computer Science Education. There’s a lot of work to be done, and every voice needs to be heard, so add yours now! Find out more at the CSTA membership page.

New IT Roles Produce a Slew of New Job Titles

Posted on April 7, 2015 by admin

In case you missed this CIO.com article in March, I thought I would share it here. The topic is a good one for discussion with students who might not see themselves as software engineers or computer scientists. The article discusses the new business landscape for some of the larger IT companies and how they are redesigning their infrastructures to accommodate the changing needs of the industry. The article touches on a few of the less talked about job positions that are needed for a vast majority of new, or re-envisioned jobs, for the changing IT landscape. This includes roles such as project manager, solution architect, data scientist, and new customer service oriented positions that some companies are developing outside the traditional “customer service” role.

http://www.cio.com/article/2899037/careers-staffing/new-it-roles-produce-a-slew-of-new-job-titles.html

A quick clarification on the proposed bylaws change

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Deborah Seehorn

2015 CSTA Board of Directors Election and Vote on Proposed By Laws Change

Clarifying a confusing proposed change in an essential area

Today is April 2, the start of the CSTA Board of Directors Election. I hope you have received your information about participating in the election. There are three vacant board positions, K–8 Representative, 9–12 Representative, and At-Large Representative. You may find further information about the candidates here. You may also read blog posts by the candidates in the CSTA Advocate Blog.

We have had some questions and comments about the proposed By Laws change to Article V, Section 4. There is some concern that CSTA is no longer going to work with standards, and that is absolutely not true. Below is the proposed change to the by Law and the existing language in the by law.

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGE

Article V: Election of Officers

Section 4: Committees

Proposed language (with proposed changes highlighted in italicized bold text):

There are several committees that are essential to the operations of the organization. These committees address the following categories—Teacher Certification, Curriculum, Executive, Equity, Funding Development, Governance, International, Membership, Nominations and Elections, Professional Development and Research—and are permanent standing committees of CSTA.

Existing language:

There are several committees that are essential to the operations of the organization. These committees—Certification & Standards, Curriculum, Executive, Equity, Funding Development, Governance, International, Membership, Nominations and Elections, Professional Development and Research—are permanent standing committees of CSTA.

One can easily see that the proposed name for the committee that is currently named “Certification & Standards” is “Teacher Certification.” The justification for making this change is given below.

Language is fluid, and specialized language in a particular field even more so. Ten years ago it made sense to call a committee concerned with the academic preparation of computer science teachers “Teacher Certification & Standards ,” in the intervening decade CSTA has worked on and published standards for K-12 students, thereby making the name of two committees confusing. By changing the wording of this section to indicate that there will be standing committees addressing each category, without dictating the name of the actual committee, we are granting flexibility to future boards with regards to communication.

CSTA will most assuredly continue to address both standards for teacher certification and educational standards for student learning. The CSTA Teacher Certification Committee will address the teaching standards for teacher certification. The CSTA Curriculum Committee will address the educational learning standards for students. Standards for teacher certification and educational standards for students are both critical to the growth and vitality of the computer science education community. CSTA will continue to address both.

Happy voting!

Deborah Seehorn
Chair, CSTA Board of Directors
On behalf of the Elections and Nominations Committee

K-8 Board Representative Nominees

Posted on March 31, 2015 by admin

The 2015 CSTA Board of Directors Elections will run from April 2, 2015 to May 4, 2015. Below is a blog post from one of our K–8 Representative Nominees. The CSTA K-8 Representative is a classroom teacher who is currently teaching or promoting computer science at the pre-high school level.

Candidate personal statements and Q&A responses can be found at http://csta.acm.org/About/sub/AboutFiles/2015Election.html.

When to Code?
Dylan Ryder

I often hear fellow elementary school teachers say that they would love to try coding in the classroom, but that they just can’t find the time in their schedules. Whether constrained by rigid state learning standards or held under the pressure of high stakes testing, educators around the country are sometimes seeing time for other subjects like Music, Art and even Science go by the wayside already – so how could they fit in Computer Science?

For many educators, participating in The Hour of Code is an exciting chance to try something new, but they feel that exactly one hour is all they have room to spare in the curriculum that they have to cover. So when can they code?

My feeling: anywhere and anytime.

It’s my view that an integrated approach to Computer Science education holds an answer to this challenge for elementary school educators. In our daily lives computer programming is a flexible tool that we use to solve problems and model knowledge from any and every other discipline there is. So why can’t we learn computing the same way in the classroom?

I recently heard a wise teacher say that while standards do define what we have to teach, they don’t exactly prescribe how we have to teach it. Think about enhancing any of your other subjects with computer programming activities. I’ve found wonderful opportunities to let students code animations based on their own writing from Literacy class, and I have challenged students to make Math quiz games. Creative coding opportunities abound as well. Code is a fantastic medium for Art and Music integrations – especially when students integrate sensor input as part of their programmed artworks and songs!

Recently, I saw a colleague’s 8th grade Math students showcase their work in the Bootstrap language. As part of their Algebra study, the students spent a few weeks making basic video games that required them to master mathematical concepts such as the coordinate grid, variables, and recursive algorithms. It was an absolute thrill for me to hear the students speak about the functionality of their games in mathematical terms, and more proof to me that there are endless opportunities for CS integration in all subjects.

My name is Dylan Ryder and I am a technology teacher at The School at Columbia University in New York City. I am currently nominated for election to the CSTA Board as K-8 Teacher Representative for the upcoming term. I look forward to the opportunity to serve and help CS education flourish in our schools.

9-12 Board Representative Nominees

Posted on March 31, 2015 by admin

The 2015 CSTA Board of Directors Elections will run from April 2, 2015 to May 4, 2015. Below are blog posts from our 9-12 Board Representative Nominees. The CSTA 9-12 Board Representative is a 9–12 classroom teacher who is currently teaching computer science at the high school level.

Candidate personal statements and Q&A responses can be found at http://csta.acm.org/About/sub/AboutFiles/2015Election.html.

Teaching in a Growing Field
Derek Babb

Course registration numbers are in and the news is great! I’ve got a record number of people who have signed up for computer science courses, more than I can actually handle. It is a great problem to have but how does a department grow beyond the number of teachers available?

The shortage of qualified computer science teachers has been well documented here and elsewhere but what exactly does an existing CS teacher need? Do I need an apprentice, someone who teaches math or business that would be interested in learning to teach computer science? Do I need someone who has experience teaching computer science? The numbers really don’t justify a second full-time computer science teacher so I don’t know that bringing in a CS veteran is possible.

I’ve been working with our counselors to see if there are students who might be better prepared for CS in a year, after they’ve had more math and in the case of freshmen, acclimated to high school. Deferring them to buy time and to see how things shake out. I don’t like it. I want to work with all these willing students and I don’t want to risk losing them if they change their interests over the course of the year. At the same time, options are limited and in systems with finite resources, difficult decisions must be made.

I think that CSTA and other organizations have done a good job of showing schools how to get started. What courses to offer, how to begin finding qualified and willing teachers, recruiting students, and building a successful program. I would like to see a model for growth to help schools and districts find the most optimal path forward. I think this is a problem that will be affecting more and more schools across the country and I think CSTA is in a position to be a leader in creating solutions. What a fantastic problem to have.

Derek Babb
9-12 Board Representative

Stephanie Hoeppner, 9-12 Board Representative

I am passionate about computer science education and have been for 16 years. My efforts first started at our State Technology conference where a colleague and I presented on how to add computer science to your school district. That was over 12 years ago and I have continued the fight as a Ohio Cohort Leader (now called CSALT) advocating for CS, as an Ohio Chapter Founder and Leader, providing professional development and continuing to coordinate presentations at the State Conference, and most recently as a 9-12 Representative on the CSTA Board working on the Research committee, Chapter committee, and the Publications Committee. I enjoy working with the other CS leaders in advocating, supporting and providing resources for other CS teachers.

While this may read as a resume list, it is not. It is a testament to my continued volunteer work for promoting and maintain CS education. While CS is growing in numbers of courses, efforts, and teachers it is important that we keep the movement going. By working in all of the above facets for several years I have seen the slow but steady fruits of our CSTA labors. I want to continue working on the CSTA Board gathering data, providing resources, and working for you.

Members should take time to consider who to vote for and I encourage you to view our statements on the CSTA election page. From my statements you should see that I am passionate about CS, a hard worker, and I have contributed as much as possible to supporting CS Education. Please vote and allow me to continue working for you.

Thank you,

Stephanie Hoeppner

9-12 Board Representative Nominee

At-Large Board Representative Nominees

Posted on March 31, 2015 by admin

The 2015 CSTA Board of Directors Elections will run from April 2, 2015 to May 4, 2015. Below are blog posts from our At-Large Board Representative Nominees. The CSTA At-Large Representative is an educator with responsibilities for K–12 CS education.

Candidate personal statements and Q&A responses can be found at http://csta.acm.org/About/sub/AboutFiles/2015Election.html.

Arkansas’s New High School CS Requirement
Daniel Moix

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson made good on his campaign promise to “offer coding in every high school” last month by signing Arkansas House Bill 1183 into law. It’s an exciting time for the growing community of CS educators in the state as we scramble to help make the governor’s vision a reality. The Arkansas chapter of CSTA has been an integral part of the achievements thus far, but we have much more to do in the coming months.

The law requires the over 270 public and charter high schools in the state to offer a high-quality Computer Science course which meets standards established by the Arkansas Department of Education. The law also charges the state’s online high school, Virtual Arkansas, with offering CS courses to all districts in the state at no charge. Finally, it establishes a 15-member task force to research, review, and recommend curriculum standards and to make recommendations to meet anticipated CS and technology workforce needs.

Governor Hutchinson’s ambitious goal is to have students across the state learning Computer Science in all schools by August, 2015. To make this vision a reality, several efforts are already underway. Curriculum Frameworks for Computer Science and Mathematics, an introductory computer programming course designed to count as a fourth-year mathematics credit, were developed in late 2014. Frameworks for Essentials of Computer Programming were completed in early 2015. Both courses draw heavily from the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards, and members of CSTA Arkansas were on the respective committees. Virtual Arkansas is in the process of implementing both of these courses as well as AP Computer Science A in their online learning environment.

There are also professional development initiatives planned to meet the demand for CS teachers. First, CSTA Arkansas is working with colleges and universities around the state to offer summer workshops for teachers licensed in other content areas who are interested in learning to teach CS. The chapter is also submitting a CS4HS grant application to request funding from Google to help build our community of practice. The state’s second Computer Science Education Summit, planned to be held in October, will feature a track of sessions to support novice CS teachers. Other ongoing initiatives are also building out the community, including the roll-out of a three-year program of study in Mobile Application Development beginning with tools like App Inventor and GameSalad but transitioning to XCode, Eclipse, and Android Studio. Training for this program will also happen this summer for 8-10 new teachers.

Arkansas has no teacher licensure system in place for Computer Science educators. Early efforts proposed by the Arkansas Department of Education would have required Computer Science teachers be No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Highly-Qualified Teachers (HQT) in Mathematics. As it stands, any licensed educator may teach CS courses, but fourth-year math credit will only being granted to those students taught by NCLB HQT in math. Arkansas is partnering with Education Testing Service (ETS), which is currently developing a multi-state Praxis exam for Computer Science. We believe this exam will be required for CS licensure in the future.

It’s an exciting time to be a Computer Science educator in Arkansas, but we have a long road ahead of us. The role of CSTA Arkansas will be to inform the standards as they are developed and revised, identify and prepare new CS teachers, support existing teachers and CS programs, and inform the new CS Education Task Force.

Daniel Moix teaches Mobile Application Development at Bryant High School in Bryant, Arkansas. He is CSTA Arkansas Vice-President, a member of the CSTA Computer Science Advocacy Leadership Team (CSALT), a member of the Councils of Chief State School Officers’ Computer Science Advisory Group, and a candidate for the CSTA Board of Directors At-Large Representative.

CSTA – More Than Ever
Alfred Thompson

Ten years ago when CSTA started it often felt like we were a bit of a lone voice advocating for computer science education. Today a lot has changed. There are many others advocating. For profit companies and nonprofit organizations alike are pushing for more CS education. The government at local, state and national levels has taken notice. Computer Science students are showing up at White House Science Fairs and the President of the United States is writing code. As a long time member and more recently a Board member of the CSTA I get asked if the CSTA is still needed. Of course this question comes from people outside of education. My answer is a resounding “more than ever.”

When one looks at the resources and guidance that others are using the CSTA is the source. One can’t discuss certification and licensure of CS teachers without referencing CSTA research. Anyone developing CS curriculum today looks to the CSTA CS Standards for guidance. Advocates for more CS education quote research from CSTA at every opportunity. Other organizations are dependent on the work that CSTA has done for the last ten years.

But there is more to it. CSTA is THE organization for K-12 computer science educators. It is the organization of teachers for teachers. CSTA provides the community of practice that is essential for the growth of computer science education. CSTA Chapters provide local and regional learning opportunities as the chance to share ideas with peers. The Annual CSTA Conference is still the premier CS education professional development for K-12 computer science educators. CSTA is the bridge among teachers that spans local and regional issues.

I believe that the more computer science education grows the more we need CSTA. I urge all members to get involved in their local chapters, take advantage of CSTA resources and help our organization to grow. We’re all in this together!

Alfred Thompson
At-Large Member, CSTA Board