The goals of this project are to introduce high school teachers to the field of Computer Science and to prepare them to teach the Computer Science Principles curriculum. 
Schedule-at-a-glance:
- Summer Workshop: June 20-23, 2016
- Online Course: summer or fall 2016
- Community of Practice (COP): 4 meetings in school year 2016-2017
Learning objectives for this CS4HS PD Opportunity
- Learn and gain an understanding of the Seven Big Ideas of the Computer Science (CS) Principles framework as set by the College Board's AP Computer Science Principles curriculum.
- Acquire the core knowledge and skills needed to teach the new AP CS Principles course, e.g., Mobile CSP, or its components.
- Be able to utilize the acquired knowledge to create/tailor course content within one's school context, either as a standalone course or as lessons that can be incorporated into existing courses.
- Engage in a community of practice (COP) of faculty, teachers, and industrial partners to share information, knowledge, and resources to support the PD activities in a collaborative learning environment.
Target Participants
We are seeking high school teachers who are interested in teaching CS. No prior experience in CS instruction is needed. Teachers from STEM and other disciplines are welcome to apply. Teachers in a rural school district and living more than 40 miles from UNO may be eligible for an additional stipend to defray travel costs.
Participant stipends
- $500/person stipend for four-day summer workshop (June 20-23, 2016),
- $300/person portfolio completion bonus for Mobile CSP or CSTE 8030 courses
- $50/person stipend for COP meetings: 4 meetings / year
- $500/person participant travel stipends for rural teachers living >40 miles from Omaha
- Android mobile device
Major Activities and Schedule
To prepare teachers to offer the CS Principles course, our CS4HS program will conduct three activities. The Summer Workshop introduces teachers to computational thinking and the CS Principles Big Ideas. We will also get started with more in-depth training in CS Principles. The training is then continued online through the Mobile CSP coursework or through signing up for our CSTE 8030 (CS Principles for Teachers) course to be held in the fall. As part of this project, we aim to foster a Community of Practice (CoP) of teachers who want to teach CS and want to network with other likeminded teachers. The CoP will meet several times during the school year to provide additional PD opportunities.
More details about the Summer Workshop and Community of Practice are given below.
Summer Workshop
The four-day summer workshop will be conducted on site at the UNO College of Information Science & Technology in Omaha. The proposed schedule of activities for the summer workshop is as follows:
- Day 1 Morning – Introduction to CS and computational thinking, overview of Big Ideas and the CS Principles Curriculum
- Day 1 Afternoon – Mobile CSP Unit 1: Getting Started with App Inventor
- Day 2 – Mobile CSP Unit 2: Introduction to Mobile Apps and Pair Programming
- Day 3 – Mobile CSP Unit 3: Creating Graphics & Images Bit by Bit
- Day 4 – Recap; overview of online courses; planning to teach high school CS
Community of Practice
The bi-monthly meetings during the school year will be conducted both in-person and online through a Google+ Hangout. The agenda for the meetings will vary from meeting to meeting, but will likely have the following activities:
- Reflection and sharing of experiences
- Teacher presentations on lessons adopted for the teachers' classrooms
- Tutorials offered by faculty on CS topics
UNO faculty will also make contact with teachers with classroom visits over the school year, as well as frequent email communications.
UNO Contacts
- Dr. Qiuming Zhu (qzhu@unomaha.edu)
- Dr. Harvey Siy (hsiy@unomaha.edu)
- Dr. Jong-Hoon (Jon) Youn (jyoun@unomaha.edu)
- Dr. Brian Dorn (bdorn@unomaha.edu)