A K-12/University Partnership Committed to Democratizing Computer Science

1. Exploring Computer Science A K-12/University Partnership Committed to Democratizing Computer Science

2. Research Based • Intensive interviews of teachers, students, counselors, administrators • Three different schools in LAUSD the second largest school district in the country—student body is 74% Latino/a, 11% African American, 9% White, and 6% Asian.

3. Findings • Complex interaction between school structural issues and belief systems which lead to disparities of access along gender, racial, and socioeconomic lines. • Schools with high numbers of students of color tend to have low-level courses, such as keyboarding. (At the time only 11 out of 57 high schools in LAUSD offered AP CS.). • Counselors don’t steer girls and students of color to cs. • The privilege of having access at home is seen as an indicator of ability while those without such access get kept out.

4. Democratizing CS Education • Rather than focus our attention on the traditional pipeline issues, we have chosen to approach this as an equity issue. • As a community we argue that the ability to think computationally is an essential 21st century skill—so we need to prepare all students to have this fundamental knowledge to be able to fully participate in society. • If more students are given these opportunities a side effect should be a natural enrichment of the pipeline.

5. How do we make this happen? • Availability of courses for all students in all schools— • Build courses at all schools, so that any student who desires to access this knowledge can do so, whether or not the students I college bound. • Curriculum and assessment— • Tailored towards students in meaningful ways • Developed to highlight the multiple ways of knowing and learning that students bring to classrooms. • Teachers— • Must be supported in developing an inclusive inquiry based pedagogy that is effective for engaging girls and students of color.

6. Our Response • ECS was created— • You can’t continue to put students into an environment that has always privileged certain learning styles and expect different results. • Designed around content, learning theory, and community. • Inquiry based—a student-centered approach which draws off of informal knowledge students bring and offers ongoing opportunities for collaboration, communication and multiple ways of knowing.

7. Teacher Pedagogy— • Often discussions about computer science education focus on subject matter with little consideration of teacher pedagogy. • Many strategies for teaching content, including • role play • jig-saw activities • pair and small group collaboration • structured tinkering, multiple solutions • utilizing manipulatives • ELL modifications • Journal reflections • Interdisciplinary connections

8. Coaching and Professional Development • The professional development explicitly models the inquiry-based design of the course and the strategies used in the course. • Professional development includes: • Summer Institutes • Saturday Follow-Ups • On-site coaching support and collaboration • 2 full-time coaches

9. Make it available— • Target schools with significant populations of students of color. • Build toward expansion and sustainability.

10. ECS 2010-2011 ENROLLMENT—16 schools

11. The ECS Curriculum Instructional Units Human Computer Interaction Problem Solving Web Design Introduction to Programming (Scratch) Computing and Data Analysis Robotics College-Preparatory Elective Credit

12. Survey course— • Introduce students to the broad field of computing through exploration of engaging and accessible topics. • Each unit focuses on different areas of computer science. • Particular skills and topics spiral throughout and new topics build on earlier lessons. • Assignments and instructional strategies weave throughout—conceptually linking the units together.

13. Designed to be modular— • Allows for modifications and substitutions • Alice/Scratch • Different kinds of robots • Individual lesson replacements • Different approaches to an activity • More relevant context for particular students

14. In general the lessons • Connect students’ prior knowledge and experiences both in and out of the classroom. • Encourage students to draw on those experiences to make connections between computing and local community issues—an approach known to engage underrepresented students. • Highlight the creative nature of computing technology as a tool for solving problems. • Highlight the relevance of computer science and its impact on society.

15. Inquiry-based approach employs • class discussion • journal writing • tinkering • collaboration • culminating unit projects to bring together the knowledge students have gained in the course to solve complex problems.

16. ECS Expansion • Chicago • Office of CTE for the CPS has decided to make ECS the foundation course for all 5 IT strands. • Plan is to have all CTE teachers trained in ECS and all strands fully implementing (3 year plan) • ECS will also count as a math credit.

17. ECS Course Enrollments--California Schools: Students:

18. For More Information • ECS website—exploringcs.org • Gail Chapman—chapgail@gmail.com