Saint Mary College will develop, execute and disseminate a three year Model Program for Preparing Computer Science Teachers for forty participants who teach at the middle and high school level in Kansas. This project will provide a computer studies teacher program that meets the guidelines for certification in Kansas. It will educate teachers in computer studies so that they can then conduct in-service sessions in computer literacy for teachers in their districts. It will provide a forum where teachers from various districts can share their materials and ideas about computer learning and develop a model program of computer studies in education, that has been tried and tested by teachers in the field, to be shared with other State Education Departments. Participants in this program, which encourages interdisciplinary connections, will receive graduate credit for their coursework. Each site where a participant teaches will be visited each year by Craig Haugness, Computer Specialist for the Kansas State Department of Education. He will submit a formal evaluation of the entire project. Saint Mary College is making plans to sustain the program at the end of NSF funding. The PI, Sister Barbara Kushan is Director of Academic Computing at Saint Mary College. She was the project director of an NSF CAUSE project from 1980 to 1983 in which a computer center was established on the campus and a computer science major developed. Other staff members are Sister Andrea Johnston, PhD, chairperson of the Mathematics Department, Professor Victor Meyer, Sister Mary Erwin Baker and Sister Mary Denise Sternitzke, Sister Kathy Atkins all of whom are experienced mathematics and computer science faculty members. Saint Mary College is qualified in terms of staff, facilities and commitment to develop a program to prepare computer teachers. Cost sharing by the College is 30% of the overall budget.
