Computer Science Education Outreach from Georgia Tech
ICE is the Institute for Computing Education. ICE is a partnership between the Georgia Department of Education and the College of Computing at Georgia Tech.
Barbara Ericson is developing student and teacher ebooks at Georgia Tech. These ebooks use a worked example plus low cognitive load practice approach that should result in more efficient and effective learning than the traditional approach of requiring learners to mostly learn by writing code.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Exploring Computer Science Curriculum
Exploring Computer Science is an NSF grant project funded for Los Angeles Unified School District and also used as a national model.
http://www.exploringcs.org
the CS v6 curriculum is available for download: http://www.exploringcs.org/curriculum
•Also on the above link is a description of the scope and sequence of ECS as well as supplemental materials.
•Videos of curriculum and PD, K-12 university partnership, Margolis/Goode keynote 2009, Richard Tapia story (Math PhD UCLA, faculty now Rice U.), Coder Girl, STEM ECS Promo video, and Black Girls Code, teaching a new generation of innovators. http://www.exploringcs.org/resources/videos
• papers
working papers http://www.exploringcs.org/research/ecs-working-papers
published articles 2003-2014 http://www.exploringcs.org/research/research-publications
research findings
research question “What does exploring computer science teaching look like in the classroom?”
key findings to questions available on last link when you click on the question:
What computer science content is being taught in ECS classrooms?
What does inquiry based teaching look like in ECS classrooms?
What does equity based teaching look like in ECS classrooms?
What were the most common teacher practices observed in ECS classrooms?
What were the least common teacher practices observed in ECS classrooms?
In what crucial ways did teachers practices vary across classrooms?
What did ECS teachers report to be supportive of their inquiry and equity based teaching practice?
Discussion points and implications
Summary of student learning indicators for ECS LAUSD (broadening participation in CS, building CS access, student reported increase in CS skills, self-reported gender gap narrowing, increased persistence in ?C?S problem solving, and two attitude indicators including growth in SC engagement and ECS challenging exclusionary stereotypes in CS. http://www.exploringcs.org/about/results
The site says that the research behind the ECS development is Jane’s book, Stuck in the Shallow End:
Margolis, J., Estrella, R., Goode, J., Jellison-Holme, J., & Nao, K. (2008). Stuck in the Shallow End: Education, Race, & Computing. MIT Press: Cambridge, MA.
book cover picture: http://www.exploringcs.org/about/the-research-behind-ecs (and about the book)
Student resources http://www.exploringcs.org/resources/student-resources
Teaching resources http://www.exploringcs.org/resources/cs-teaching-resources
CS Education Statistics http://www.exploringcs.org/resources/cs-statistics (charts, graphs, information)
Policy http://www.exploringcs.org/about/policy http://csta.acm.org/Advocacy_Outreach/sub/AdvocacyTools.html
Photos (kids, teachers, computers, trips to UCLA) http://www.exploringcs.org/about/photos
Photos and bios of ECS Team (including Jane and Joanna Goode) http://www.exploringcs.org/about/team
The suggested citation for this study is:
Ryoo, J.J., Margolis, J., Goode, J., Lee, C., Moreno Sandoval, C.D. (2014). ECS Teacher Practices Research Findings—In Brief. Los Angeles, CA: Exploring Computer Science Project, University of California, Los Angeles Center X with University of Oregon, Eugene. Retrieved September 245, 2015, from http://www.exploringcs.org/ecs-teacher-practices-research.
Mobilize Grant 2010-2015
Yasmin Kafai also has a new NSF grant with Jane Margolis designing an e-textile unit for ECS. They just started last month but will be in LAUSD classrooms next year.
Other
Jan Cuny September 2015 K-12 Computing Update http://delivery.acm.org/10.1145/2810000/2809795/p54-cuny.pdf?ip=67.169.51.180&id=2809795&acc=OPEN&key=4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E4D4702B0C3E38B35%2E6D218144511F3437&CFID=716317596&CFTOKEN=84935581&__acm__=1443158923_12edd8751888d6ac79db72e97b4260f9
NSF Program Solicitation STEM + C April 14, 2015 http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15537/nsf15537.htm
Mark Guzdial’s post about it: https://computinged.wordpress.com/tag/nsf/
NSA funding Cybersecurity HS camp at Berkeley, summer 2015 CY-BEAR (NSA & NSF) http://www.dailycal.org/2015/07/08/national-security-agency-funds-uc-berkeley-cybersecurity-summer-camp-for-high-school-students/
NSF 2009 BCP (Broadening Participation in Computing) http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=116059
"The BPC funded research by Jane Margolis, a UCLA researcher working in the Los Angeles Unified School District, seeks to implement a comprehensive computer science education at the K-12 level. The BPC also funded Ursula Wolz, a researcher from the College of New Jersey. Wolz and her team created a summer institute and an afterschool program that teaches students computer science through the development of an online magazine. “
News about ECS
video highlighting Jane’s work by NSF (September 2014)
"Today, more than 2,000 students in the Los Angeles United School District (LAUSD) are learning computer science through ECS each year. Most of the students are African American and Latino. ECS is also increasing the percentage of female students taking computer science courses. At a time when the national average of female students who are participating in Advanced Placement computer science is about 19 percent, the LAUSD ECS enrollment is 40 percent female – twice the national average!”
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Dueling Loops Video Series on Systems Thinking
Dueling Loops Video Series on Systems Thinking
The essence of systems thinking is thinking in terms of system structure. System structure consists of nodes, their relationships, and the feedback loops that cause the system to behave the way it does. That's what the videos demonstrate.
Therefore the essence of solving difficult systemic
problems is understanding the relevant system structure. Once you
understand it and can "see" it as well as the back of your hand, solving
the problem becomes relatively easy because you can now "see" the root
causes and the high leverage points for resolving the root causes. Your
solution elements push on the high leverage points. That's the main
message of the videos.
This is a powerful way to solve common good problems.
It's best to start with the first video and watch them all in sequence, since they tell a cohesive story.
1. Overview of the Dueling Loops, 11 minutes
Part 1. Basic Concepts of Systems Thinking and the Sustainability Problem
2. Discovery of the Sustainability Problem by Limits to Growth Project, 6 min
3. The Basic Concept of Feedback Loops, with Population Growth, 10 min
4. How Simulation Models Work, with Population Growth, 10 min
5. The Importance of Structural Thinking, 3 types, 8 min
Part 2. Deriving the Dueling Loops Shape from Past System Behavior
6. What Jared Diamond’s Collapse Book Attempted to Do, 6 min
7. Extracting the Competitive Spiral from Collapse, 8 min
8. The Two Fundamental Loops of All Political Systems, 5 min
9. The Four Loop Model of Why Some Societies Collapsed, 7 min
10. The Basic Dueling Loops Shape, 15 min
Part 3. How the Basic Dueling Loops Simulation Model Works
11. The Race to the Bottom Simulation Model, 6 min
12. The Five Main Types of Political Deception, 15 min
http://www.thwink.org/sustain/videos/DuelingLoops/index.htm
What is Lack of Systems Thinking?
Lack of systems thinking produces a mental model based
mostly on what you can physically see. This tends to
give a shallow understanding of the way a system works.
For example, when pouring a glass of water we usually
think only in terms of turning on the faucet until
the glass is full, and then turning it off.
http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/SystemsThinking.htm
Definitions of Systems Thinking
Systems Thinking
Here are a few definitions about systems thinking, let's take a look:
Wikipedia:
References
Here are a few definitions about systems thinking, let's take a look:
Wikipedia:
Systems thinking is the process of understanding how things, regarded as systems, influence one another within a whole. In nature, systems thinking examples include ecosystems in which various elements such as air, water, movement, plants, and animals work together to survive or perish. In organizations, systems consist of people, structures, and processes that work together to make an organization "healthy" or "unhealthy". Systems thinking has roots in the General Systems Theory that was advanced by Ludwig von Bertalanffy in the 1940s and furthered by Ross Ashby in the 1950s. The field was further developed by Jay Forrester and members of the Society for Organizational Learning at MIT which culminated in the popular book The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge which defined Systems thinking as the capstone for true Organizational learning. (1,2)Waters Foundation:
Systems thinking utilizes habits, tools and concepts to develop an understanding of the interdependent structures of dynamic systems. When individuals have a better understanding of systems, they are better able to identify the leverage points that lead to desired outcomes. (3)
“What do we mean when we say ‘systems thinking?’” We can use the phrase to refer to a set of tools – such as causal loop diagrams, stock and flow diagrams and simulation models – that help us map and explore dynamic complexity. We can also use it to mean a unique perspective on reality – a perspective that sharpens our awareness of whole and of how the parts within those wholes interrelate. Finally, systems thinking can refer to a special vocabulary with which we express our understanding of dynamic complexity. For example, systems thinkers often describe the world in terms of reinforcing and balancing processes, limits, delays, patterns of behavior over time, and so forth.” – Barry Richmond, isee systems, inc. (4)
“Systems thinking is a vantage point from which you see a whole, a web of relationships, rather than focusing only on the detail of any particular piece. Events are seen in the larger context of a pattern that is unfolding over time.”
isee systems, inc.(4)
Systems thinking is a perspective of seeing and understanding systems as wholes rather than as collections of parts. A whole is a web of interconnections that creates emerging patterns. (4)Mental Models:
Thwink:System
A system is an entity which maintains its existence
through the mutual interaction of its parts.The key emphasis here is one of "mutual interaction," in that something is occurring between the parts, over time, which maintains the system. A system is different than a heap or a collection, mostly. Emergence
Associated with the idea of system is a principle called emergence. From the mutual interaction of the parts of a system there arise characteristics which can not be found as characteristic of any of the individual parts.One has to study the system to get a true understanding of wetness. Studying the parts will not provide an appropriate understanding. (5)
Here's a definition from Barry Richmond, who coined the term in 1987: 1
Systems Thinking is the art and science of making reliable inferences about behavior by developing an increasingly deep understanding of underlying structure.Cultivating this "art and science" leads to routine use of correct mental models that see the world as a complex system whose behavior is controlled by its dynamic structure, which is the way its feedback loops interact to drive the system's behavior. The term systems thinking is preferred to holistic or whole systems, which have looser and more intuitive meanings, and emphasize understanding the whole rather than the dynamic structure of the system.
Systems thinking is not stepping back to look at the whole, the big picture, or a higher level. Nor is it realizing that when a butterfly flaps its wings in one place, that could cause a hurricane far away. This helps, but does not lead to the major insights that emerge when the feedback loop structure of the system becomes visible. When this happens night becomes day. Systems thinking is the first step to an even higher level: system dynamics, where instead of just thinking in terms of system structure you model it.(6)
References
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_thinking
- Senge, Peter (1990). The Fifth Discpline. Doubleday.
- http://watersfoundation.org/systems-thinking/what/
- http://watersfoundation.org/systems-thinking/definitions/
- http://www.systems-thinking.org/index.htm
- http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/SystemsThinking.htm
The Role of Questions in Teaching Thinking
Thinking begins with questions. It is through deep questions that ask beyond the surface superficial "fact" that thinking can begin. Formulating questions, and ever asking questions keeps the mind sharp. Unfortunately, many minds in fact-driven classrooms are being slowly dulled through the concept of the right answer.
Asking questions is in itself an exercise in thinking. To think of all the questions one has about a topic, and then to think of all the questions that each one of those questions generates builds a whole curriculum and a way of understanding and engaging solutions to problems. Answers, or the "right answer" often are thought-stopping processes that end discussions in dulled classrooms. Deep questions drive our thoughts and our curiosities, inciting creative solutions and ideas about the questions. Many kinds of questions should be asked.
Questions about information
Questions about interpretation
Questions about purpose
Questions about implication
Questions about point-of-view
Questions of relevance
Questions of accuracy
Questions of precision
Questions of consistency
Questions of logic
These kinds of questions can wake up sleepy minds and get them used to again thinking, and learning, and communicating.
References
Asking questions is in itself an exercise in thinking. To think of all the questions one has about a topic, and then to think of all the questions that each one of those questions generates builds a whole curriculum and a way of understanding and engaging solutions to problems. Answers, or the "right answer" often are thought-stopping processes that end discussions in dulled classrooms. Deep questions drive our thoughts and our curiosities, inciting creative solutions and ideas about the questions. Many kinds of questions should be asked.
Questions about information
Questions about interpretation
Questions about purpose
Questions about implication
Questions about point-of-view
Questions of relevance
Questions of accuracy
Questions of precision
Questions of consistency
Questions of logic
These kinds of questions can wake up sleepy minds and get them used to again thinking, and learning, and communicating.
References
- Never-Ending Story, Galas, C., http://www.cathleengalas.com/papers/9ISTEL&LNeverEndingStoryApril99.pdf
- http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/the-role-of-questions-in-teaching-thinking-and-learning/524
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