Computing Education for the 21st Century (CE21)

Jan CunyEducation Workforce CISE

January 31, 2011

What we trying to change

•Too few students are going into computing

•Our record on women, minorities, and persons with disabilities is dismal

•Our research base on teaching and learning is almost nonexistent

The 1st Cool Thing about CE21

Merges Broadening Participation Computing (BPC) and CPATH communities

The 2nd Cool Thing about CE21

CISEEHROCI

NSF EHR Directorate

• Advanced Technological Education (ATE)• Discovery Research K-12 (DR K-12)• Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 (GK-12)• Innovative Technology Experiences for Students

and Teachers (ITEST)• Math and Science Partnerships (MSP) • Research and Evaluation on Education in

Science and Engineering (REESE)• Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program• Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM

(TUES)

CE21

•Increase the number and diversity of K-14 students and teachers who develop and practice computational competencies in a variety of contexts

•Increase the number and diversity of early postsecondary students who are engaged and have the background in computing necessary to successfully pursue degrees in computing-related and computationally-intensive fields of study.

ALL proposals must …

• Contribute to the creation of a rich research base that informs our understanding of effective teaching and learning in computing; and

• Draw on partnerships among the computing and teaching and learning communities, institutions of learning, including primary, secondary and post-secondary institutions and organizations, and other stakeholders.

In addition, one or more ..

Design, develop, and study

▫ Effectiveness of new instructional materials & interventions for diverse student populations

▫ Impact of teacher training for middle and high schools

▫ Scaling of promising interventions

The 3rd Cool Thing about CE21

CS Education +

Broadening Participation+

Education Research

CS Education +

Broadening Participation

+ Education Research

My Concerns about CE21

The 4rd Cool Thing …

I. Intellectual MeritII. Broader Impacts

CE21: III. Broadening Participation: Reviewers will be asked to assess the extent to which the proposed work addresses issues of underrepresentation.  

} Standard, NSF-wide

The 5th Cool Thing …

An emphasis on middle & high school, that encourages proposals that align with CS 10K

CS 10K

Goal: To completely revamp the high school curriculum and get that new curriculum taught by 10,000 well-prepared teachers in 10,000 classrooms by 2015.

CE21 will

catalyze

CS 10K

The 6th Cool Thing …

•It’s very popular•We’re building a community

NEW

ORLEANS

2011

We’re building momentum

As a field, we have put too little effort into education, particularly K-12 education.

We don’t have …•Direct, large scale involvement in the

schools (e.g. PLTW)

•Large, sustained intervention programs (Engineer Your Life, Design Squad)

•Professional societies running direct interventions (ESA)

•Any history of educational research (Math, Physics)

We do have ACM

•CSTA•SIGCSE•CS Education Week•ACM EPC, Ed Board & Council•CiC

Thanks!• Cameron Wilson

As a field, we have put too little effort into education, particularly K-12 education.

The time is right to change that!