Teaching algorithms in upper secondary education: a study of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge

IF 3 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Computer Science Education Pub Date : 2021-06-15 DOI:10.1080/08993408.2021.1935554

Jacqueline Nijenhuis-Voogt, Durdane Bayram-Jacobs, P. Meijer, E. Barendsen

{"title":"Teaching algorithms in upper secondary education: a study of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge","authors":"Jacqueline Nijenhuis-Voogt, Durdane Bayram-Jacobs, P. Meijer, E. Barendsen","doi":"10.1080/08993408.2021.1935554","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Background and Context Computing education is expanding, while the teaching of algorithms is less well studied. Objective The aim of this study was to examine teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching algorithms. Method We conducted semi-structured interviews with seven computer science (CS) teachers in upper secondary education (students aged 15–18). The data were analyzed qualitatively. Findings We found two patterns of variation in teachers’ PCK. First, we detected variation in the teachers’ goals related to their view of algorithms: they either focused on “thinking” about the algorithm as an object, or focused on “thinking and making”, where the algorithm is also regarded as a program. Second, we found variation in teachers’ knowledge about responding to differences between students, which may be generic or topic-specific. Furthermore, our findings reveal that teachers consider class discussions to play a significant role as an instructional method for provoking reflection. Implications Our findings regarding PCK may be beneficial for the development of teacher education and professionalization activities for CS teachers.","PeriodicalId":45844,"journal":{"name":"Computer Science Education","volume":"33 1","pages":"61 - 93"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/08993408.2021.1935554","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Computer Science Education","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/08993408.2021.1935554","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 2

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background and Context Computing education is expanding, while the teaching of algorithms is less well studied. Objective The aim of this study was to examine teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching algorithms. Method We conducted semi-structured interviews with seven computer science (CS) teachers in upper secondary education (students aged 15–18). The data were analyzed qualitatively. Findings We found two patterns of variation in teachers’ PCK. First, we detected variation in the teachers’ goals related to their view of algorithms: they either focused on “thinking” about the algorithm as an object, or focused on “thinking and making”, where the algorithm is also regarded as a program. Second, we found variation in teachers’ knowledge about responding to differences between students, which may be generic or topic-specific. Furthermore, our findings reveal that teachers consider class discussions to play a significant role as an instructional method for provoking reflection. Implications Our findings regarding PCK may be beneficial for the development of teacher education and professionalization activities for CS teachers.

查看原文本刊更多论文

高中教育教学算法:教师教学内容知识研究

背景与上下文计算的教育正在扩大，而算法的教学却没有得到很好的研究。目的探讨教师在算法教学中的教学内容知识。方法我们对7名高中计算机科学（CS）教师（15-18岁的学生）进行了半结构化访谈。对数据进行了定性分析。研究结果我们发现教师PCK存在两种变异模式。首先，我们检测到教师目标的变化与他们对算法的看法有关：他们要么专注于将算法作为一个对象进行“思考”，要么专注于“思考和制作”，算法也被视为一个程序。其次，我们发现教师在应对学生之间差异方面的知识存在差异，可能是通用的，也可能是特定主题的。此外，我们的研究结果表明，教师认为课堂讨论作为一种激发反思的教学方法发挥着重要作用。启示我们关于PCK的研究结果可能有利于CS教师的教师教育和专业化活动的发展。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Computer Science Education EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH-

CiteScore

6.90

自引率

3.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： Computer Science Education publishes high-quality papers with a specific focus on teaching and learning within the computing discipline. The journal seeks novel contributions that are accessible and of interest to researchers and practitioners alike. We invite work with learners of all ages and across both classroom and out-of-classroom learning contexts.