When advocates advocate computer science education, they usually talk about increasing the number of schools offering computer science classes - with the intention of reaching more students. But from our perspective as an IT education scientist, the key factor is how many teachers are qualified to teach the subject.
2020 data show that in one of the most advanced computer science classes in high schools taught nationwide, the College Board’s Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles course, enrollment rose from nearly 44,000 in 2017 to more than 114,000 in 2020. Enrollment growth - for that class and other computer science courses that led to it - more teachers who are quick to attend classes on how to teach computer science were encouraged.
Expanding the number of computer science courses depends on educating even more teachers to teach them. But nearly half of all U.S. states have no plan to teach computer science at the K-12 level. There are eight countries that do not have certificates for computer science teachers. And 27 states and the District of Columbia do not offer incentives for higher education institutions to offer computer science teacher education programs, according to Code.org.
This means that schools will not have enough teachers to expand computer science education. Increasing quality access to computing is important for students who want to use computing as a tool for problem solving and creativity.
Teacher education programs
The National Science Foundation and private groups have established programs to increase the number of computer science teachers. But most of these training efforts take place in one- to two-week sessions that usually prepare teachers without a computer background to teach the basic principles of computer science.
They do teach some of the computer science content that teachers will have to teach, but they often drop out of training without being able to translate that content for students. Short-term courses do not offer that level of depth.
Without policies and incentives for more dedicated teacher preparation, we believe that many new IT teachers will not be adequately prepared. Two-week training courses can give potential computer science teachers a foundation. But in our opinion, they cannot provide enough depth to prepare teachers to give high-quality computer instruction.
AP Photo / Elaine Thompson
Combination as a solution
At Michigan State University, in partnership with the University of Detroit-Mercy, we have begun researching another approach that we hope will better prepare school teachers to teach a range of computer science courses.
Our efforts put university instructors with deep knowledge of computer science in computer science classes in high school next to a school teacher who wants to become a computer science teacher. The university instructor initially takes the lead, teaching high school students while at the same time demonstrating best practices for the teacher. As the year progresses, the high school teacher gains knowledge and experience, eventually taking on more responsibility in the classroom.
We expect that our evaluations will reveal that this method will enable teachers to become better acquainted with the content. Then they can independently offer high-quality computer science learning.
We have also seen that great opportunities open up for teachers to connect with the identities and interests of their students in order to research informatics. For example, one teacher used a coding tool called Cornrow Curves - named after the African and African-American style of hair weaving - to explain and investigate how algorithms work.
We recently thought about how to build social relationships that students value - such as coaches and barbers - to design a computing and culturally rich learning environment.