The Expansion of CS4HS: An Outreach Program for High School Teachers

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The Expansion of CS4HS An Outreach Program for
High School Teachers

• Lenore Blum, Carnegie Mellon University
• Tom Cortina, Carnegie Mellon University
• Ed Lazowska, University of Washington
• Joe Wise, New Roads School for UCLA

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National Trends

• Number of newly declared CS majors nationwide

Source 2005-6 Taulbee Survey
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National Trends

• The of female Bachelors degrees went from
  17.0 in 2003-04 to 14.7 in 2004-05...
• In 2005, less than 7 of CS degrees were awarded
  to Hispanic and African American students.

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National Trends
Why is this a problem? Computer Science is the
mathematics of the 21st Century. Jim Gray
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Solutions
Broaden the image of who can do CS
Broaden the image of the field of CS
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Solutions
Introduce Depth and Breadth of CS into the
Curriculum

• Problem Solving
• Programming
• Algorithms
• Biology/Neuroscience CS
• Graphics Art, Animation CS
• Human Computer Interaction
• Language Technologies
• Artificial Intelligence CS
• Robotics

Computational...
Biology, Chemistry, Design, Finance,
Linguistics, Logic, Mechanics, Neuroscience,
Physics, ...
It appears that our K-12 students need to know
how to think computationally more than ever
before!
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CS4HS Our Focus

• Computer science is much more than computer
  programming.
• We can do little to change AP Computer Science in
  the short term, so let's provide short modules
  about computer science for CS teachers to use in
  their classes.
• Teachers can then show their students (and future
  students) that CS includes programming and SO
  MUCH MORE.
• By teaching the teachers, we can reach many more
  students than by working with the students
  directly.

Think Global, Act Local, Impact Global
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(No Transcript)
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Support
Lenore Blum Tom Cortina Carol Frieze
Deb Estrin Joe Wise
Ed Lazowska Julie Letchner
Tim Bell Mike Fellows Ian Witten
Craig Neville Manning
Alan Kay
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SCHOOL OFCOMPUTERSCIENCE

• Tom CortinaCarnegie Mellon University

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Participants

• Level
• High School 41 (Depts CS, Math, Tech., Business)
• Middle School 4
• College/University 7
• Areas represented
• United States PA, OH, WV, MD, DE, VA, NY, NJ,
  IN, IL, KY, TN, AZ, CA, CO, WA, TX, FL, MA, NH,
  WI
• International Canada, Mexico, India
• Role of CS in high school education in their
  state
• Elective 65 Use as a substitute 10
• Must be taken 2.5 No idea 22.5

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Perceptions

• In your opinion, what is the biggest cause of
  enrollment decline in CS in the past decade?
• Bust of dot coms What can you do with it?
• No standard curriculum Students think CS
  internet, Word
• NCLB Uninformed teachers/administrators
• Courses too hard Too many required courses
• Elective status Media reports/Offshoring
• Isolated teachers Competes with easier
  electives
• No CS in middle school Not "sexy" enough to keep
  their interest
• Antisocial/geek culture Not relevant to
  students
• Hard work, less pay Fracture of fields (CS,
  IS, Soft Eng, etc)
• Boring Too exclusionary
• CS treated as a vocation No state certification
  for teachers

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Schedule/Topics
FRI SAT SUN MON
Morning9-1230 CS Unplugged and Keynote (Alan Kay) CybersecurityandBots N Scoutstournament CognitiveTutors andBrainstorming
Lunch at Google Pittsburgh Box Lunch(Free Time)
Afternoon2-530 Cake Cutting Broadening Participation Panel TeRK RobotsandCareers in CSPanel
Dinner (Free Time) Pizza Party
Evening730-9 Dinner Icebreaker Human Computation Intro. to Alice
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Logistics

• Professional Development Credits
• In Pennsylvania, teachers receive Act 48 credits
  for each hour of instruction/participation
• Other teachers received certificates with the
  number of hours served to use in their home state
  for credits
• Major costs
• Housing 10K
• Food 6K
• Materials 5K
• Outside Speakers 2K
• Documentation (Photography, videography) 4K
• Administration, summer salary 8K

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Fun!
http//www.cs.cmu.edu/cs4hs
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• Ed LazowskaUniversity of Washington

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Philosophy

• Success in high school math and science (and
  English!) is a better predictor of success in CS
  than is success in high school programming
• Many members of under-represented groups never
  take programming in high school
• Target teachers of math and science
• Most colleges and universities even excellent
  ones draw regionally, not nationally
• 85 of UWs freshmen are from WA
• Nearly 1/4 come from just two dozen high schools!
• Target a regional audience

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Participants

• 72 teacher-registrants
• All from the Puget Sound region
• 22 stayed in dorms, 50 commuted
• Recruited via email
• UW math and science department lists of
  teachers and groups
• AP teacher lists
• Principals and department heads at top feeder
  schools
• 10 speakers
• Mostly local, but some traveled

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Schedule highlights

• Presentations
• Computational Thinking Jeannette Wing
• The Computer Revolution Hasnt Happened Yet
  Alan Kay
• Biology Computer Science Tom Daniel
• Computer Science at UW Ed Lazowska
• Lab sessions
• Squeak in Action (Squeak programming) Stuart
  Reges
• Robotics (Lego Mindstorm) Benson Limketkai
• Programming (two tracks, for those with
  programming experience, and those without)
  Stuart Reges, Marty Stepp

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Schedule highlights

• Interactive sessions
• Cryptography Made Easy Stuart Reges
• CS Unplugged (2 sessions) Tom Cortina
• Demos motion capture, educational technology,
  computing for the developing world
• Computing Careers panel
• Two Break-out by Subject Taught sessions, plus
  a report-back session (how to apply what youve
  learned in the course you teach)
• Book discussion (3 break-out groups, forThe
  Search, Unlocking the Clubhouse, and
  Cryptonomicon)
• Closing banquet

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Logistics

• 3 full days
• Required 25 registration (as a sign of
  commitment)
• Provided Squeakers DVD, Amazon.com gift
  certificate for book (cost 3K)
• Granted 20 clock-hours or 1 unit of UW credit
  (3K)
• Provided dormitory accommodation for 22, parking
  for 50, travel and hotel for non-local speakers
  (8K)
• Provided breakfast, lunch, snacks on 3 days (6K)
• Closing banquet was way too expensive (13K)
• Grad student organizer (Julie Letchner)
  lifesaver! (8K)

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Plans for 2008

• Same idea, with minor tweaks
• Will produce logistics manual
• http//cs4hs.cs.washington.edu

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• Joe WiseNew Roads School forUniversity of
  California, Los Angeles

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Logistics

• Target Local participants (city-wide)
• Provided continental breakfast, lunch, and a
  banquet
• Provided a 100/day stipend totaling 300/person
• Provided support group meetings in January and
  March of 08

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Participants

• Curriculum Coordinator 1
• K-8 Computer Teacher 1
• Elementary Teacher 1
• CS HS Faculty 16
• Tech Coordinator 10
• Math Department Head 1
• Total 30 participants

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Schedule
Wednesday July 11th 830 900 Breakfast 900
910 Welcome and introductions 910 1030
Alan Kay "Non-Advice" about Powerful Ideas,
Learners, and Computing 1045 1100
Break 1100 1145 CS Unplugged video and
activities 1145 1215 Google presentation
Josh Hyman 1215 100 Lunch 200 230 CENS
intro w/ Deborah Estrin 230 300 CENS Lab
Tour 300 400 CS Unplugged video and
activities 430 700 Wine and Light Buffet
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Schedule
Thursday July 12th 830 915 Breakfast 900
930 Eddie KohlerHow does an OS work 930
1000 Todd Millstein Programming Languages
The Human Interface to Computer Science 1000
1030 Discussion 1030 Break 1045 1145
CS Unplugged (cont) 1145 1215 Google
Speaker Dan Kegel - Learning to Program 1215
100 Lunch 100 145 Jeff Burke - Urban
sensing, theater, and the space-time
aquarium. 200 300 UCLA Visualization Portal
Tour 315 345 Gender/Social Issues Deborah
Estrin, Jane Margolis 345 415
Discussion 415 500 Small group discussions
of future schedule (8 groups of 5)
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Schedule
Friday July 13 830 915 Breakfast 900
945 Jens Palsberg - Software trends and
challenges 945-1015 CS _at_ UCLA Discussion
1015 break 1030-1200 CS Unplugged
continued 1200 100 Lunch 100 230
Virtual LA Tour 230 330 Discussion
Report backs and Where Do We Go from Here?
330 400 Closing and future schedule
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CS4HS at UCLA
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Future Plans

• Summer Workshop July 24, 25, and 26th at UCLA
• Continue working with Tim Bell and Computer
  Science Unplugged
• Partner with Jane Margolis and others working
  with LAUSD and schools within LA and Orange
  Counties
• Continue to plan three workshops/year to support
  CS faculty and IT coordinators

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CS4HS is expanding!

• Our newest CS4HS team member!University of Texas
  at Austin
• First Bytes Collaborative Workshop for Computer
  Science Teachers

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2008 Workshops

• Carnegie Mellon UniversityJuly 24-27, 2008
• University of California, Los AngelesJuly 24-26,
  2008
• University of Texas at Austin ("First
  Bytes")July 9-11, 2008
• University of WashingtonJuly 11-13, 2008

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Goals

• Expand to 40 workshop sites in the next two
  years.
• Reach out nationally and internationally.
• At least one workshop on each continent outside
  of N.A.
• We need your help to make it a success!
• Run a workshop or join forces with a larger CS
  department nearby.
• Determine the special needs of your area and use
  your in-house expertise to craft a workshop that
  will support the teachers in your area.

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Discussion

• http//www.cs.cmu.edu/cs4hs
• CS4HS Meeting Planning for the FutureSaturday,
  March 15245 - 345PMB119