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In recent years, eight states have adopted a graduation requirement in computer science (CS), and other states are considering similar requirements. Due to the recency of these requirements, little is known about student and teacher perceptions of course(s) that fulfill the requirement and their content. This project seeks to answer the question, What are the perceptions of students who are studying CS beyond high school and CS teachers of a high school CS requirement and its content? We used a mixed methods approach that included interview transcripts from students who took CS coursework in high school and are currently studying it in college (n = 9). We also used quantitative data from a survey of CS teachers (n = 2, 238) that asked for their perceptions of a CS graduation requirement. Most of the students felt that CS should be required in high school, and there was a wide variety of sentiment regarding what content should be included in such a course. For the high school teachers, about 85% felt that CS should be required. It is perhaps not surprising that most students who studied CS in college valued it at the high school level and thus supported a graduation requirement. What is more interesting is the diversity of content that they felt should belong in such a course. These findings serve as an important consideration for those implementing a CS graduation requirement.
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Reimagining Essential Computing Content for High School Students
There are several changes anticipated in computer science (CS) education over the next decade, including updated student standards, rapidly changing impacts of artificial intelligence (AI), and an increasing number of school systems requiring a CS class for graduation. In order to prepare for these changes – as well as to address the equity issues that have plagued CS since its inception – we engaged in a project designed to reimagine content and pathways for high school CS education. As a collaborative project, we hosted multiple events for relevant parties (including K-12 educators and administrators, higher education faculty, industry professionals, state and district CS supervisors, and CS education researchers). These events were designed to collaboratively seek input for the creation of a series of reports recommending what a CS course that satisfies a high school graduation requirement should include, how that course should align with Advanced Placement (AP) and post-secondary CS instruction, and what pathways should exist for students after that introductory high school course. The portion of the project highlighted in this article contains an analysis of data collected from focus groups (n=21), interviews (n=10), and an in-person convening of participants from K-12, post-secondary, industry, and administrative roles (n=35). The data is centered on determining what CS content is essential for all high school students. Participants considered knowledge, skills, and dispositions across a range of CS and CS-adjacent topics and, through a variety of activities, described what new content should be taught when viewing through the lens of teaching CS to high school students in the year 2030 and what content should be prioritized. Our analysis sought to delineate and synthesize their sentiments. Six major priorities emerged from our analysis: societal impacts and ethical issues, algorithmic thinking, data and analysis, inclusive computing culture, AI, and career knowledge. The significance of our findings is that they present a broad overview of what a variety of relevant parties consider to be the most important CS content for high school students; this information is important for educators, administrators, and those who develop curriculum, standards, and/or teaching tools.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2311746
- PAR ID:
- 10515323
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Society for Engineering Education
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- ASEE Global Colloquium on Engineering Education
- ISSN:
- 2153-6007
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Portland, OR
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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