CS 10K: Beauty and Joy, Adapted and Adopted: Building a Computational Teaching Cadre from within Wyoming Schools

University Of Wyoming, Laramie WY

Investigators

Abstract

The University of Wyoming, partnering with the Wyoming Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and districts and high schools throughout the state, proposes a project to bring AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) to students across Wyoming. The project will adapt and adopt the Beauty and Joy of Computing (BJC) - an AP CSP course developed at UC Berkeley - to prepare students for the new AP CSP exam. The PIs have significant experience working with middle and high school teachers throughout Wyoming, especially with mathematics teachers, who are the main providers of high school computing education in the state. The project leverages this experience by offering significant professional development (PD) during a summer session and school year follow-up. Over the summer, teachers will be introduced to the Snap! programming language and its development environment, and the details of preparing students for the AP CSP examination. Further PD opportunities will take place throughout the school year in the form of one-on-one peer mentoring and online teacher circles, which will be particularly useful in the sparsely populated state of Wyoming. The project will work closely with high school teachers to teach the course as a pilot at high schools in Albany County and Laramie County. After the pilot, it will extend the collaboration to other school districts in Wyoming, ultimately reaching the entire state. The Beauty and Joy, Adapted and Adopted project will modify the existing BJC curriculum to include alternative units on topics of particular interest in Wyoming such as simulation of global climate models. The project staff will conduct professional development for in-service teachers to improve high school computer science instruction in Wyoming. The external evaluation will examine the implementation of rigorous courses in computer science in high schools throughout the state of Wyoming through the adoption of AP CSP classes, and the extent to which broadening participation in computer science is advanced using AP CSP as a vehicle. The key question addressed by the external evaluation is the following: "To what extent was the project implemented as designed and did it achieve its stated goals and objectives?"