Computer

Science Teaching Methodology Course

Background
As new computer science courses are being offered in schools nationwide, providing teachers
instructional support to effectively teach these courses is increasingly both urgent and
challenging. Since pre-service are typically immersed in a process that builds skills about
teaching and learning, they are well suited to develop necessary teaching practices in computer
science. This methodology course was developed to assist pre-service mathematics and science
teachers to build the pedagogical knowledge and equitable teaching practices needed to teach
secondary computer science concepts.

Setting
The methodology course was piloted during the spring quarter of 2012 in the Center X Teacher
Education program at UCLA. This program is nationally known for its research-based
approaches to mathematics and science education. The existing mathematics and science
methodology courses work with teachers to develop an effective inquiry based approach to
teaching and learning. The programs explicit commitment to social justice attracts a cadre of
prospective teachers committed to issues of equity and access in urban schools.

Students
Twenty-seven prospective mathematics and science teachers in their resident year of the teacher
education program enrolled in this course.

Fitting into the Teacher Education Curriculum
The course replaced an existing educational technology course that was more geared towards
using information technology to enhance learning in traditional subjects. Thus, this teaching
methodology course was used to meet Californias state requirement of educational technology
course credit for teaching licensure and did not require students to take an additional class.

Linking Theory and Practice
An important element of this course design is the link to the current and local computer science
courses in schools. Often, methodology courses can be seen as distanced from the teaching
practices in the field. Because Exploring Computer Science courses were offered at schools
throughout the district, many of the pre-service teachers had student teaching placements at
these schools. Thus, assignments are customized to examine the links between theory and
practice by highlighting the field component of this course.

Partnerships
This course was developed as a result of deep collaborations between Center X, the Los Angeles
School District, and the Mobilize (www.mobilizingcs.org) and ECS (www.exploringcs.org) NSF-
funded programs. These two programs support curricular resource development, local
administrative support for computer science courses, and professional development for in-
service teachers of mathematics, science, and computer science. The Mobilize project sponsored
the development and teaching of this course.

Supported by MOBILIZE: Mobilizing for Innovative Computer
Science Teaching and Learning (NSF# 0962919)


Course time:
Course dates:
Location:
Developed by:
Instructors:

UCLA Teacher Education Program 1

Methodologies for Computer Science Teaching
Tuesdays, 1:00-2:50pm
April 4, 2012-June 6, 2012
Moore Hall
Dr. Joanna Goode (University of Oregon)
Dr. Jane Margolis

Methodologies for Computer Science Education (2 units)

This course for prospective secondary STEM teachers explores computer science as a
discipline that encourages inquiry, creativity, and collaboration. Given that the nature of
computing is investigative, the computer science activities will be hands-on to gain insights
about teaching and learning computing concepts in classroom settings. Students will
examine a variety of computing tools, virtual environments, and other instructional
resources that support learning across STEM disciplines. Students will learn that
pedagogical methods in computer science require intellectual rigor in order to develop
lessons that are relevant to secondary students and pertinent to our culturally diverse
world today.

There are four related areas of emphasis which support effective computer science
education:
1) Representing and connecting computer science concepts
2) Engagement with particular instructional strategies that foster inquiry-based
teaching and learning
3) Eliciting, assessing, and understanding students computer science content
knowledge and computational thinking practices
4) Development of equity-based teaching practices in computer science education

REQUIRED READING

Barr, V., & Stephenson, C. (2011). Bringing computational thinking to K-12: what is
Involved and what is the role of the computer science education community? ACM
Inroads, 2(1), 48-54.
Bell, T., Alexander, J., Feeman, I., & Grimley, M. (2009). Computer science unplugged: School
students doing real computing without computers. New Zealand Journal of Applied
Computing and Information Technology, 13(1), 20-29.
Eglash, R., Bennett, A., ODonnell, C., Jennings, S., & Cintorino, M. (2006). Culturally Situated
Design Tools: Ethnocomputing from Field Site to Classroom. American
Anthropologist, 108(2), 347362.
Goode, J., & Chapman, G. (2011). Exploring computer science (4th ed.). Los Angeles:
Computer Science Equity Alliance.
Goode, J., & Margolis, J. (2011). Exploring Computer Science: A Case Study of School
Reform. Trans. Comput. Educ., 11(2), 1-16.
Maloney, J. H., Peppler, K., Kafai, Y., Resnick, M., & Rusk, N. (2008). Programming by choice:
Urban youth learning programming with scratch. Paper presented at the Proceedings
of the 39th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education, Portland,

Supported by MOBILIZE: Mobilizing for Innovative Computer Science Teaching and Learning (NSF#
0962919)

2 Methodologies for Computer Science Teaching

OR, USA.
Margolis, J., Estrella, R., Goode, J., Holme, J. J., & Nao, K. (2008). Stuck in the shallow end:
Education, race, and computing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
National Research Council. (2000). Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A
Guide for Teaching and Learning. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press.

ASSIGNMENTS

1) Reflective Journaling - Weekly

Each week as part of class, students will engage in reflective journaling in response
to prompts posed by the instructors. These prompts will be related to the readings,
class discussions, and instructional activities. Journals will be handed into the
instructor weekly for written feedback.

2) Computer Science Classroom Observation Due Week 5
Students will visit a secondary computer science class and conduct an observation
of teaching and learning. Students will write a 2-page single-spaced overview of this
observation, including a description of the lessons content, instructional delivery,
classroom context, student engagement, and intellectual rigor.

3) Planning and Delivering an Instructional Lesson Due Weeks 7-10
In small assigned groups, develop and lead a one-hour instructional lesson on one of
four recommended topics during weeks 7-10. This lesson should emphasize an
inquiry-based approach to engage students in hands-on learning. Lessons should
have a concluding component that links the computing concepts at hand to related
mathematics, science, or computer science content. Topics include:
a. CS Unplugged
b. Scratch
c. Culturally situated design tools
d. Data analysis with mobile technology

GRADING

Class participation
Reflective Journals
Classroom Observation
Student-led lesson

COURSE GRADES
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+

92-100%
90-91%
88-89%
82-87%
80-81%
78-79%

20%
30%
20%
30%

C
C-
D+
D-
D-
F

72-77%
70-71%
68-69%
60-61%
60-61%
0-60%

Supported by MOBILIZE: Mobilizing for Innovative Computer Science Teaching and Learning (NSF#
0962919)

UCLA Teacher Education Program 3

Methodologies for Computer Science Teaching

COURSE OUTLINE & ACTIVITIES

WEEK

TOPIC

Introduction
to course

Equity and Access

in CS Education

4
5
6
6
7

READINGS
Syllabus
Stuck in the
Shallow End:
Jigsaw chapters

Curricular Concepts Barr &

in Computer
Stephenson
Science
CSTA Model
Curriculum
Inquiry in
National Research
Computer Science
Council Ch.1, 6
Moving to the Deep Goode & Margolis
End: ECS
Goode & Chapman
Assessing
National Research
Student Learning
Council Ch. 4
Planning
Inquiry Lessons
Computing
without Computers

Computing
across Cultures

Programming
with Scratch

10

Mobilize &
Conclusion

National Research
Council Ch. 8
Bell, et.al.

Eglash, et.al.

Maloney, et.al.

Estrin: Video from

ECS Principals
Mtg

ACTIVITIES
1)
2)
3)
1)

Welcome and overview of course

Activity: Room Picture Activity (ECS pp.45-50)
Discussion: What is CS, anyway?
Activity: Students talk in groups about assigned
chapters and present to rest of class
2) Activity: Stereotype threat (tbd)
1) Activity: Jigsaw computing topics/levels from
CSTA document to review and report out to class
2) Assign groups for instructional lesson
assignment and allow for group planning time
1) Activity: Model inquiry lesson and debrief as
class (teacher/learner/observer model)
1) Debrief CS classroom observations
2) Discussion: Democratizing CS
1) Activity: Examining learning in ECS videos
2) Activity: Designing a digital portfolio for a CS,
mathematics, or science classroom
1) Group planning time for student-led lessons in
weeks 7-10
1) Group Instructional Lesson on CS Unplugged
2) Class debrief of lesson
3) Discussion: How would this lesson need to be
adapted for secondary students?
1) Group Instructional Lesson on Culturally
Situated Design tools
2) Class debrief of lesson
3) Discussion: How would this lesson need to be
adapted for secondary students?
1) Group Instructional Lesson on Scratch
2) Class debrief of lesson
3) Discussion: How would this lesson need to be
adapted for secondary students?
1) Mobilize project presentations
2) Activity; Developing a plan for integrating
computer science in STEM classes
3) Debrief of course

Supported by MOBILIZE: Mobilizing for Innovative Computer Science Teaching and Learning (NSF#
0962919)