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Eric Roberts Department of Computer Science Stanford University

Educating the Next Generation of Computer Scientists: The Critical Role of High School Teachers . Eric Roberts Department of Computer Science Stanford University. CSIT Symposium Norfolk, Virginia March 6, 2004. 1. . Why high-school computer science is important. 2. .

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Eric Roberts Department of Computer Science Stanford University

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  1. Educating the Next Generation of Computer Scientists: The Critical Role of High School Teachers Eric RobertsDepartment of Computer ScienceStanford University CSIT SymposiumNorfolk, VirginiaMarch 6, 2004

  2. 1. Why high-school computer science is important 2. The challenges that high schools face 3. How can universities and professional societies help 4. A success story Outline

  3. 1. 1. Why high-school computer science is important Why high-school computer science is important • The economy still needs people with CS/IT skills 2. The challenges that high schools face 3. How can universities and professional societies help 4. A success story Outline • Students with more preparation can go farther in college • High schools are essential to promoting diversity

  4. The Incredible Shrinking Pipeline — Joe O’Rourke “Mentor Project Targets Female Undergrads” Computing Research News, 1993

  5. BS Degrees in Computer Science SOURCES: Susan T. Hill, Science and Engineering Degrees: 1966-96. Report number NSF 99-330. National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, March 2002.

  6. BS Degrees in Computer Science SOURCES: Susan T. Hill, Science and Engineering Degrees: 1966-96. Report number NSF 99-330. National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, March 2002. Complete invention.

  7. Useful Resources

  8. 1. Why high-school computer science is important 2. 2. The challenges that high schools face The challenges that high schools face • The economics of teaching computer science 3. How can universities and professional societies help 4. A success story Outline • “The God that Failed” reaction to the high-tech bubble • PowerPoint and IT seem more exciting to administrators J • Lack of materials and support • The complexity and instability of modern programming

  9. More background on these problems and the sources from which they arise can be found in the background paper in the SIGCSE proceedings: Eric Roberts. The Dream of a Common Language: The Search for Simplicity and Stability in Computer Science Education. SIGCSE 2004. Problems in Modern Programming Languages • Complexity. The number of programming details that students must master has grown much faster than the corresponding number of high-level concepts. • Instability. The languages, libraries, and tools on which introductory computer science education depends are changing more rapidly than they have in the past.

  10. 1536 pages 911 pages 274 pages 266 pages The March of Progress

  11. An Even More Sobering Thought There are more public methods in the java and javax package hierarchies than there are words in Jensen and Wirth. The amount of text once deemed sufficient to teach the standard introductory programming language is thus no longer sufficient for a full index of the operations available today. — SIGCSE Proceedings

  12. 1. Why high-school computer science is important 2. The challenges that high schools face 3. 3. How can universities and professional societies help How can universities and professional societies help • Partner with high schools to share resources 4. A success story Outline • Recognize and promote the value of high-school education • Help convince society of the continued importance of CS/IT • Offer professional development in new tools and technology • Develop and disseminate effective teaching materials

  13. Employment Patterns by Discipline Fraction of professionals with degrees in that discipline: Fraction of disciplinary graduates employed in that profession: SOURCE: National Science Foundation/Division of Science Resources Statistics, SESTAT (Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System), 1999, as presented by Caroline Wardle at Snowbird 2002

  14. Fred Terman with Packardand Hewlett Fred Terman: Honoring High School Teachers As part of his legacy, former Stanford Dean and Provost Fred Terman established a fund to honor the top 5% of each graduating class in the School of Engineering. Those students come to a celebratory lunch to which they invite: • Their most important mentor at Stanford • The high school teacher who influenced them the most

  15. The ACM Java Task Force In October 2003, the ACM Education Board approved the formation of a new task force with the following charter: To review the Java language, APIs, and tools from the perspective of introductory computing education and to develop a stable collection of pedagogical resources that will make it easier to teach Java to first-year computing students without having those students overwhelmed by its complexity. The Java Task Force held its first meeting at the end of January 2004. It proposes to issue its final report in June 2005, in time for use in the following fall.

  16. 1. A definition of a subset of the standard Java APIs appropriate for first-year computer science 2. A public web site containing an updated javadoc reference manual for the approved Java subset 3. A collection of pedagogically oriented APIs that have been evaluated and approved by the task force 4. A survey of existing noncommercial materials and tools for teaching Java 5. A proposal for sustaining the activity begun by this task force Deliverables

  17. Relationship to AP Computer Science • AP Java subset • “The AP Java subset is intended to outline the features of Java that may appear on AP Computer Science Examinations. The AP Java subset is not intended as an overall prescription for computer science courses—the subset itself will need to be supplemented in order to cover a typical introductory curriculum.” — AP CS Course Description (as provided by Fran Trees)

  18. 1. Why high-school computer science is important 2. The challenges that high schools face 3. How can universities and professional societies help 4. A success story Outline

  19. The Bermuda Project In 1997, Stanford initiated a project to design a new CS curriculum for Bermuda’s public secondary schools. We now have three courses in place, the first of which is taken by all students. More information on the Bermuda Project is available from the project web site: http://bermuda.stanford.edu

  20. About Bermuda • British overseas territory lying 600 miles east of North Carolina • Local parliament with Labor majority since 1998 • Land area just over 20 square miles (one-third the size of Washington DC) • Total population of 62,000 (roughly the size of Palo Alto) • Two public high schools (Berkeley and CedarBridge), in which over 90% of the students are black • Considerable national wealth from tourism and companies relocating to Bermuda as a tax haven

  21. The End

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