Postgraduate Course: Subject Specialism: Computing Science (2) (EDUA11377)
Course Outline
| School | Moray House School of Education |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course (which builds on Computing Science (1) )examines pedagogical approaches to computer science education in primary and secondary schools. It considers the progression of core concepts in computational thinking, and how to support learners' development of these using non-digital activities as well as appropriately designed programming environments. |
| Course description |
This course builds on Subject Specialism: Computing Science (1), providing an opportunity for students to further enhance their ability to make theory-practice connections, acknowledging that learning to teach is an iterative process requiring deep and progressive intellectual and practical engagement. The purpose of the course is to provide students with pedagogical content knowledge for computing science at school level. It is based on contemporary research in computing science education, both empirical and theoretical. It starts from the premise that computational thinking should be accessible to all. Previous approaches to CSE have not been sufficiently inclusive, leading to the popular notion that computing is only for particular groups of people, and the marked gender imbalance in the technology industry. This course therefore examines a range of specific approaches to supporting all students to succeed, such as using non-computer based activities to aid understanding of underlying concepts, the initial focus on code reading rather than writing, the role of visual representations in programming, and the creating a supportive classroom environment.
The course is organised as 5 × 2 hour classes, group discussion and student presentations/demonstrations. Each week, students will be provided opportunities to discuss and share different perspectives on course material and related issues. They will reflect on how the course reading relates to their experiences on placement.
Indicative topics include: contemporary educational computing tools; learning together; computational thinking in the BGE; assessment and the SQA awards,
As this course builds on Computing Science (1) in a spiral fashion, the learning outcomes are shared across both courses but will be considered in greater depth in this course.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Determine appropriate, original and creative pedagogical and assessment approaches for different stages of learners in computer science, and justify these choices convincingly.
- Skilfully use a significant range of non-digital and educational computing environments to support the development of computational thinking skills
- Systematically apply critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis of results in computer science education research to inform their teaching.
- Use their knowledge and understanding of inclusion to ensure that female and minority students thrive in their classrooms
- Analyse their learning on this course in relation to relevant core concepts of social justice, sustainability, global perspectives, digital and statistical literacies and professional inquiry skills.
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Reading List
INDICATIVE TEXTS:
Grover, S., & Pea, R. (2013). Computational Thinking in K-12: A Review of the State of the Field. Educational Researcher, 42(1), 38 -43. doi:10.3102/0013189X12463051
Grover, S., Cooper, S., & Pea, R. (2014). Assessing computational learning in K-12. Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education - ITiCSE 14, (June), 5762. doi:10.1145/2591708.2591713
Guzdial, M. (2016) Learner-Centered Design of Computing Education: Research on Computing for Everyone. Morgan Claypool Publishers. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will have the ability to:
Support learners in the development of computational thinking skills
Critically examine current research on computer science education and reflect on how this can be applied to their teaching
Critically evaluate new and emerging educational hardware and software |
| Keywords | computing science,teacher education |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Judy Robertson
Tel: (0131 6)51 6249
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Mairi Ross
Tel: (0131 6)51 4241
Email: |
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