A Google Computer Science for High School Workshop

Abstract

Abstract A Google Computer Science for High School WorkshopIn summer of 2013, a Computer Science for High School Workshop was successfully organizedin ____ university. The workshop was sponsored by Google. It was the first Computer Sciencefor High School workshop for the state of ____. The workshop aims to achieve six outcomes: (1)Provide professional development opportunity for high school teachers, (2) Train high schoolteachers to integrate modern tools with their teaching, (3) Acquaint the high school teachers withthe cutting-edge computing technologies, (4) Inspire innovative ideas and strategies for effectiveteaching in the computing field, (5) Establish networking among high school teachers anduniversity educators, and (6) Attract minorities to the computing field. Fourteen high schoolteachers from nine counties participated in the workshop. Speeches were made by universityadministrators, industry experts, and a Google representative. Multiple theoretical, hands-on, anddiscussion sessions were held within two days, as briefly described in the following.Computational thinking session: University and high school teachers discussed aboutfundamental computing concepts. Emphasis was placed on how high school teaching wouldbetter prepare the students for statewide assessments and for college degrees involving computer.Curricular innovations and pedagogical tools session: This hands-on session was conducted inparallel on both days. Altogether four topics were covered: webpage development, introductionto Alice, game programming, and robotics.State-of-the-art of computing session: Various cutting-edge computing technologies includingparallel computing and cloud computing were presented.Share ideas in computing session: This session was held on both Day 1 and Day 2. On Day 1,university faculties discussed with the participants about approaches to develop and improvehigh school courses related to computer. On Day 2, the director of Upward Bound on our campuswas invited to present about Upward Bound, which is a program of US Department of Educationdesigned to provide support to prepare high school students for college entrance.Attracting minorities session: In this session, the situation of minorities’ participation incomputer-related majors is presented. Then the high school teachers joined the discussion aboutseveral initiatives to recruit more females and minorities in computer and other STEM majors.Assessment was conducted primarily through a series of surveys before, during, and after theworkshop, which include both formative measures to provide feedback to workshop organizersand summative evaluations to address the workshop’s effectiveness. One survey was completedby the participating high school teachers over a Google website; the survey results indicate anaverage score of 4.5 (out of 5). A range of follow-up activities are currently ongoing. Forexample, after the workshop university faculties and students visit the participating high schoolsto provide on-site assistance to the high school teachers. Also, a website is constructed andmaintained as a forum for the high school teachers, with the purpose of seeking long-termcollaborative relationships with high schools. This workshop was the pilot workshop to begin ourcollaboration with k12 level to inspire the high school students in computing field and we expectto successfully continue with this effort.Second page:The agenda of our two-day CS4HS Workshop is shown in Tables I and II below. Table I: Agenda of Day 1 Time Session Topic Location 9:00 – 9:30 Breakfast, welcome from organizers Ballroom Inaugural session 9:30 – 10:30 Presentation from Google representative Ballroom 10:30 – 11:00 Attracting minorities Increase minorities’ interest in computer Ballroom 11:00 – 12:00 Share ideas in computing Improve curricula related to computer Ballroom 12:00 – 1:30 Lunch Speech from industry expert Ballroom Curricular innovations and Webpage development Computer Lab 1:30 – 3:30 pedagogi