CP1.6 - Why include Computer Science?
Background
So far in this unit you have read a broad set of materials from a variety of sources. Many of these were selected because they include some combination of:
- attempt to explain what CS actually is as a discipline in K-12 education
- explains the rationale behind the inclusion of CS in K-12 education
- define elements of what topics/issues are appropriate for CS in K-12 education
We wrap up by summarizing those ideas.
Assignment
Creating a Rationale for CS in K12 education
Create a document that discusses:
- an outline of rationale points for inclusion of CS-related skills in elementary education (approximately K-5)
- an outline of rationale points for inclusion of CS-related skills in secondary education (approximately 6-12)
You may certainly include talking points from our required readings, but I would encourage you to expand on this by including points from additional resources. While I think that we have pulled together a good set of resources, I think there are lots of other great resources out there that can help us all (teachers, administrators, students, parents, etc) better understand computer science and why it is important to include it in K12 education.
Again, I strongly encourage you to locate and "review" one or more additional "rationale documents" to share with the class. These documents should be ones that meet at least one of the three criteria listed above but with particular emphasis on criteria/element #1 - explains the rationale behind the inclusion of CS in K12 education. Specifically, I would like you to find resources that make grade-band specific cases. So I would like you to either locate a single resource that explicitly breaks out the rationale by grade level/bands OR find multiple resources that may focus on specific grade bands.
For each of the additional resources you should consider including :
- How to access the resource (likely the URL to the resource)
- Who has produced it
- What it contains
- What are its strengths towards completing the first part of this activity.
Evaluation
- This activity uses my standard "Checkpoint Evaluation" process.
- To submit your work you should word process your entire reflection (including the final, self analysis) and save/print as a PDF.
- You should then look on Blackboard for the submission link for this activity.