Work in progress: ACTIVATE: Advancing computing and technology interest and innovation through teacher education

Abstract

In the Northern Appalachian region around Pittsburgh, PA, many high schools do not have computer science courses, so students are not introduced to this critical subject that is needed for most technical career paths. Our unique strategy is to invite current high school science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teachers, in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland, to participate in 3 summer workshops showing how to incorporate computing concepts into existing STEM courses. By working with teachers on how to assimilate programming and computational thinking into their classrooms we will effectively reach a large population of students in areas where computer science classes are not available. In this paper, we outline the current state of the project and some of the data we have collected. Future goals for this project include performing a rigorous evaluation of teacher impact and developing the workshop materials for wider dissemination.