High schools in California--and around the country--increasingly offer computer science (CS) and often would like to expand CS offerings further. However, these expansions pose a number of challenges for administrators and policymakers, especially if they are going to happen effectively and equitably. We consider four of the most pressing…

Background and Context: To better reflect the computational nature of STEM disciplines and deepen learning of science content computational thinking (CT) should be integrated in science curricula. Teachers have a critical role in supporting effective student learning with CT integrated curricula in classroom settings. Objective: Our team worked…

Computer science education has seen a large national push to be included in the K-12 curriculum (Fluck, Webb, Cox, Angeli, Malyn-Smith, Voogt, & Zagami, 2016; Theresa Avancena & Nishihara, 2014; Veletsianos, Beth, Lin, & Russell, 2016; Yadav, Gretter, Hambrusch, & Sands, 2016). Students are leaving schools and entering an economy…

Context: Introducing Computer Science (CS) into formal education can be challenging, notably when considering the numerous stakeholders involved which include the students, teachers, schools, and policy makers. We believe these perspectives should be considered conjointly, which is possible within Research Practice Partnerships (RPPs). RPPs look…

Background/Context: There were over 500,000 open computing jobs across the country in 2018, but only 35% of U.S. high schools offer computer science classes, and only 8-10% of STEM graduates study computer science (Code.org, 2018). In 2021, only 5.1% of all Bachelor's degrees conferred were in Computer and Information Sciences (IPEDS, 2018). STEM…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a GenCyber camp curriculum on teachers' technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK). The camp was designed to engage participants in developing the knowledge and skills to incorporate GenCyber Cybersecurity First Principles and GenCyber Cybersecurity Concepts (GenCyber, 2019) into…

The Work-Based Courses Blueprint is a foundational guide for all Tennessee SySTEM school sites engaged in designing and developing work-based courses for 11th and 12th grade students. Specifically, this blueprint covers pertinent work-based courses topics such as building a work-based course team, course design, and course delivery. The blueprint…

"Thriving in Our Digital World" is a technology-enhanced dual enrollment course introducing high school students to computer science through project- and problem-based learning. This article describes the evolution of the course and five lessons learned during the design, development, implementation, and iteration of the course from its…

Over the past decade, abroad range of policymakers, corporations, educators, and scholars in the United States have catapulted computer science (CS) education from the sidelines to the center of K-12 public education discourse. While calls for CS education are often framed in terms of national and economic competitiveness, there is a growing…

This article elaborates on design research in a final capstone industrial design studio unit and on the application of outcomes over eight years within a School of Engineering and its recent incarnation as School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics. Research and curriculum innovation linked students to the new global design-driven innovation…

The overall aim of this two-year study is to understand effective practice and lessons learned from approaches to curriculum design and employer engagement by University Technical Colleges (UTCs). Researchers used a case-study methodology supplemented with management information and a survey of UTC students' views. Key findings include: (1)…

For many years computing in New Zealand schools was focused on teaching students how to use computers, and there was little opportunity for students to learn about programming and computer science as formal subjects. In this article we review a series of initiatives that occurred from 2007 to 2009 that led to programming and computer science being…

With few exceptions, students interact with technology in one way or another every day. And yet, in most U.S. schools, the term "computer science" (CS) refers only to generic skills classes, such as keyboarding and computer applications. Even most Web programming classes usually teach students only how to use conventional graphical user…

In this article, we examine the use of electronic textiles (e-textiles) for introducing key computational concepts and practices while broadening perceptions about computing. The starting point of our work was the design and implementation of a curriculum module using the LilyPad Arduino in a pre-AP high school computer science class. To…

Advances in technology have caused high schools to update their computer science curricula; however there has been little analogous attention to technology-related education in middle schools. With respect to computer-related knowledge and skills, middle school students are at a critical phase in life, exploring individualized education options…