The Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education (CEMSE) at the University of Chicago proposes a "Design Studio" for computer science education professional development (PD) providers. Attendees will have an opportunity to collaborate with each other and experts from the University of Chicago with the goal of addressing key issues in computer science PD raised by CEMSE's landscape study of computer science PD. That study, "Building an Operating System for Computer Science Education," released in December 2012, contained 14 recommendations for improving computer science education professional development. After findings from that study were presented to PIs from the National Science Foundation's Computing Education for the 21st Century (CE21) program in January 2013, many of the CS 10K practitioners expressed interest in further exploring these recommendations, and the implications for their work.
The Design Studio will advance the recommendations of the landscape study by working with a variety of computer science professional development providers in a collaborative process to explore existing literature on effective professional development, review examples of success from other disciplines, and identify opportunities to improve CS professional development for high school teachers. The PD providers will collaborate with each other, as well as with experts from the University of Chicago in a structured and facilitated manner to explore three key questions that have implications for individual PD sites and for the field as a whole:
1. How can we move computer science education professional development toward a more coherent vision of what good computer science education and therefore professional development looks like? 2. How can we move computer science education professional development toward better fitting the needs of the groups that will comprise the computer science teacher workforce? 3. How can we move computer science education professional development to focus more on teaching and learning in the classroom?
The CS PD Design Studio attempted to advance teaching, learning, and leading in K-12 computer science (CS) education through a two-day workshop with CS professional development (PD) providers from across the country. These PD providers participated in numerous activities over the course of the workshop to help them: (1) improve their knowledge and understanding of best practices in PD by exploring lessons from mathematics and science education, (2) reflect on, and consider improvements for, the design of their own PD, and (3) explore implications for the computer science education field as a whole. The University of Chicago’s Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education and Urban Education Institute developed and implemented a workshop ("Design Studio") for computer science professional development providers on April 25-26, 2013. The workshop was broadly promoted to CS PD providers, and included direct outreach to National Science Foundation Computing Education for the 21st Century (CE21) PIs. A total of 36 PD providers, from 18 sites across the country, attended the workshop; the majority of these attendees were associated with CE21 projects. The agenda for the CS Design Studio was developed to lead PD providers through activities aimed to help them: Explore existing literature on effective PD; Consider what are the implications from best practices from mathematics and science education for CS education; and Identify ways to improve their own CS PD to support current high school CS teachers. The CS Design Studio was well-received and rated highly by PD providers who attended. In post-event surveys: Participants rated the Design Studio experience very high--the majority (93%) of participants who completed surveys either "strongly" or "somewhat agreed" that it was a valuable learning experience. All responding participants (86% "strongly agreeing" and the remaining respondents "somewhat agreeing") indicating they appreciated the expertise of presenters. All participants agreed that the Design Studio helped them identify strategies to improve their work (86% "strongly agreeing" and 14% "somewhat agreeing"). All participants (who completed post-event surveys) agreed that the Design Studio helped them think about their PD in new ways (79% "strongly agreeing" and 21% "somewhat agreeing"); however, whether attendees actually change the way in which their PD is designed or delivered is unknown and beyond the scope of this project. The results have been broadly disseminated to communities of interest. Artifacts and information about the CS PD Design Studio have been documented on an online report available at http://cemse.uchicago.edu/computerscience/OS4CS/design_studio/. A webinar on September 25, 2013 was presented to approximately 80 individuals which showcased data, discussed activities, and shared findings from the "Building and Operating System for CS Education" project. As a component of that larger project, the Design Studio was also promoted.
