The top universities in the nation are seeing a major surge in students interested in computer science majors, according to an article published May 26th on TechCrunch. (See From the Ivy League to State Schools, Demand for Computer Science is Booming) Also, employment of those with computer science degrees is estimated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to rise by 15% from 2012 to 2022, “faster than the average for all occupations.” (See US Dept. of Labor Occupational Outlook Handbook)
So it only seems logical that high schools should increase opportunities to offer Computer Science (CS) Principles, as well as provide training for educators to lead this course successfully. No worries, Alabama! The University of Alabama is leading such efforts, and opening access to its professional development nationally.
Starting this week and for the next six weeks, the University of Alabama (UA), is hosting a free, online course for teachers around the nation interested in teaching Computer Science Principles. Leading the effort is UA computer science professor, Jeff Gray, who says enrollment for their first-ever online “MOOC” has exceeded 800.
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The curriculum has been adapted from a CS Principles Pilot course taught at the University since 2011, according to a UA news release.
The MOOC, or Massively Open Online Course, is being supported by a grant from the Google CS4HS program. The online course parallels the CS Principles professional development instruction of the “CS4Alabama” project. CS Principles is currently being piloted in Alabama through a National Science Foundation CE21 grant awarded to the University of Alabama, in collaboration with A+ College Ready and the Alabama State Department of Education. The goal of the project is to provide year-long professional development and mentoring to 50 high school teachers over a three year period, enabling them to offer the course to a diverse group of students. As an extension of the six-week online course, Alabama teachers who are involved in piloting the CS Principles Course will come to the University of Alabama for a week-long meeting to build on the instruction, and network with each other face-to-face.
“This is taking the ideas that we planned regionally for Alabama and scaling it up to work with teachers across the United States who have the same interests in offering this course in their high schools,” said Gray.
The Collage Board is developing CS Principles as a future Advanced Placement (AP) course that is expected to launch in Fall 2016 with an official exam in May 2017. CS Principles seeks to broaden the participation in computer science by providing an engaging and fun curriculum that showcases the diverse and exciting opportunities that are available in computer science.
As part of the CS4Alabama Project, nine Alabama Schools piloted the course in 2013-14 and twenty-two schools will join the pilot in the 2014-15 school year.
Participating year-one schools are; The Alabama School of Math and Science; Alabama School of Fine Arts, New Century Technology High School, Huntsville High School, Bob Jones High School, Hoover High School, LAMP, Muscle Shoals High School, Lawrence County High School.
Participating year-two high schools are; Fairhope, Wenonah, Chambers County Career Tech Center, LeCroy Tech, Fairview, Fairfield High Preparatory, Guntersville, Hartselle, Homewood, Spain Park, Columbia, JCIB, Minor, Shades Valley, Oak Grove, James Clemens, Hazel Green, Oxford, Sylacauga, Hewitt-Trussville, Tuscaloosa Career and Technology Academy and Vestavia.
An additional 20 schools will be invited to join the pilot in 2015-16.
As further encouragement for expanding Computer Science Course offerings, the Alabama State Board of Education passed a resolution allowing Computer Science Courses to count as a mathematics credit toward high school graduation.
“Not only will there continue to be a high demand for Computer Science in post-secondary education institutions and the job market, but Alabama aspires to have the best-prepared students coming out of high school to be successful in these areas,” said Mary Boehm, president of A+ College Ready.
