Scratching the subject surface: infusing computing into K-12 curriculum

Abstract

As the computing education community grapples with integrating computing into K-12 curriculum, the focus remains primarily on identifying appropriate grade level content and skills[3]. Two problems articulated by Margolis et al.[5], are (1) how to bring computing into an already over-burdened curriculum, (2) how to provide substantive professional development for teachers. We need to look beyond teaching computing concepts as isolated from other disciplines. The power of computing lies in its broad applicability to facilitate creativity in other domains. The panelists will report on using Scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu) in language arts, science and social studies curricula. Our programs demonstrate to middle and high school students and teachers how computational thinking, computing concepts and programming are essential to their course of study. We emphasize active learning where computing is a tool for creativity. We demonstrate how learning 21st century computing skills in the classroom can be fun. This panel will present three perspectives on using Scratch for humane games, scientific modeling and interactive storytelling. There will be significant time for the audience to participate in discussion of broad applicability of our approaches and whether this pedagogy can work at the undergraduate level.