2 years ago
Students enrolled in the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts residential and outreach programs represent about 10 percent of students taking computer science courses statewide.
In October, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced that more than 3,900 Arkansas students are enrolled in a computer science course this fall. Of that number, 2,004 were enrolled in the new Essentials of Computer Programming course. This is the first year that every public and charter high school in the state is required to offer at least one computer science course, according to state law.
On campus, 71 residential students are enrolled in various computer science courses. Through ASMSA’s Outreach Department and Coding Arkansas' Future initiative, 285 students are enrolled in Essentials of Computer Programming or AP Computer Science. Of those, 246 students in 21 school districts across the state are participating in the Essentials of Computer Programming or Essentials of Computer Programming Plus classes.
There are 16 districts participating in the Essentials of Computer Programming Plus program. Those districts have a designated teacher in each classroom who is teaching the class in partnership with ASMSA. Daniel Moix, ASMSA’s computer science education specialist, is assisting those teachers during their first year of teaching the course.
Each teacher attended a summer workshop at ASMSA to learn the basics of teaching a computer science class. Many of the teachers did not have previous computer science teaching experience.
Moix said he has been very pleased with the results during the first semester of the course. He said none of the struggles or pitfalls he anticipated have been a problem. The teachers are working well as a team, sharing their experiences and tips with each other. The school district administrators have also been very accommodating of the needs of the teachers and students, Moix said.
“It’s essential in working with a team of teachers to give them avenues to collaborate,” Moix said. “You need to give them the voice to be not just followers but also leaders. It helps to recognize that although they may be entering a new discipline, they already have a lot to bring to the table in classroom management skills. They already know how to be a teacher.”
He said the group is communicating in several ways. They developed a Facebook group where they could be more social and use a listserve for more official classroom interactions. They also have a shared Google Drive folder where Moix shares information with them as well.
The key to the success has been giving the teachers the opportunity to be creative on their own, Moix said.
“Giving them the space and empowerment to make this happen has made it successful. It’s not us coming down from on high doing this,” Moix said.
Moix interacts with each classroom via video twice a week. It’s given him the opportunity to see faces of students as they learn. It’s also given him a window into each teacher’s teaching style. Those sessions also reinforce the program’s success, he said.
“We jumped off the deep end with Essentials Plus. We are swimming. Some schools are doing synchronized swimming. We’ve gone beyond dog paddling. I personally feel the quality of instruction with a real live teacher is 100 percent better than strictly digital learning. The teacher learning with their students lends to that learning environment,” he said.
Moix said the teachers used the Hour of Code sponsored by Code.org and other elements of Computer Science Education Week this week to encourage student leadership as well. Several schools developed events where current computer science students led other students through fun activities to encourage more students to become involved in computer science.
“They don’t just teach the students but let the students take leadership roles as well,” Moix said. “The Hour of Code experience was a fantastic way to do that.”
The first cohort of teachers will have a follow-up session at ASMSA in the summer of 2016 once the spring semester is over. A second cohort of teachers for Essentials of Computer Programming Plus will be selected to participate in the 2016-17 school year. The second cohort will also attend a workshop similar to the first cohort.
The program model has been considered so successful that a similar model is being developed for a new course in the 2016-17 academic year. ASMSA will offer Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles Plus. Moix will work with a cohort of teachers for that course in the same manner as Essentials of Computer Programming Plus.
The teachers selected for that cohort will have to first attend an AP workshop led by an AP certified specialist. They will have a mini workshop with Moix before the fall semester begins.
Enrollment for both the Essentials of Computer Programming Plus and AP Computer Science Principles Plus courses will begin in January. For more information on enrollment, interested school districts should contact David Slaymaker, assistant dean for outreach services, at slaymakerd@asmsa.org or (501) 622-5434.